SUBURB
by hastingsdaryl
Summary: AU. Kinda. Alex and Piper never goes to prison but got separated. Alex is out of the cartel and now a detective. Few years had passed and they found eah other again, fell in love and is now married, with a kid. A teenager, to be exact. All is well, until one day, Alex is hauted by a mistake she did in the past. (Not good with summaries. Just check it out and tell me what you think)
1. Suburb Prologue

Prologue

"Vause, you have 5 minutes to get your perfect ass home before the fucking time bomb drop...", Nicky growled on the phone as soon as Alex picked it up. Confused, Alex crossed her eyebrows, returning the pocket of tea she was holding to the container on the table. She was currently on her tea break after a raid downtown.

"Wha...What do you..."

"The kid's on her way to your cute little apartment...I sent her...", Nicky snapped making Alex dropped the cup she's pouring hot water with.

"What...What the fuck Nicky! Why the hell would you do that!", chills and panic was immediately sent running through Alex's nerves hearing what Nicky just said. "I'm at work! Piper's going to be home any minute now and it's not the fucking time for you to let me deal with this shit! I wasn't fucking ready! H-How am I supposed to tell Piper! Nicky what the fuck!", Alex grabbed some napkin on the counter and wiped the messed of hot water on the floor. She tossed the used napkin on the bin and proceeded to grab her jacket.

"That's not my problem now, is it?", Nicky growled back at her. "Look, Lorna found out and she's on her way out to god knows where to leave me and I'm so fucking baked right now! Lorna left me, Vause! Lorna left me! So step the fuck up Vause! Grow a pair and tell Chapman about your dirty little secret!"

"Nicky! Look! I'm sorry that you have to go through with this shit, but please...please don't do this to me...please Nicky...not now...I'm not fucking ready!", Alex walked out the canteen to her desk. She tried to pack up whatever she could and went to her locker to unload. "And how about Diana? What'd she have to say about this? What'd you tell her? 'Thanks for the seventeen years of service and go live your life now?' Man! I mean...what the fuck!"

"Right! It's been 17 fucking years! Vause! I thought you should be ready by now!", Nicky paused and took some air to calm a little. "And the bitch doesn't have a say in anything. She doesn't have anything to do with the kid. Except she's your whore who you played doctor for awhile and decided to implant science with." A paused. "Listen...I cannot do anything about it Vause. I'm about to lose Lorna because of this shit...I wanted to help you...believe me, I do, but I can't lose Lorna. Not again...I don't know what's gonna happen to me...", Alex heard Nicky's voice cracked. Her friend was lost, in panic and stress like her. Alex felt bad.

"She's not my whore...I didn't fuck her..." A pause. "Nicky...I'm sorry..."

"Is that so? And yeah well...It's fine Vause. Just...handle your shit together and I will handle mine...", Alex nodded as if Nicky could see her. A worried sob escaped from her lips. "The kid wasn't informed. So good luck with that Vause...", then Nicky hung up.

Alex finished her errands and grabbed her bag from her locker. She closed it after and went out rather rushed almost knocking off her colleague.

"Vause! We gotta run. You ready?"

"Listen Gonzales, I gotta go home, family stuffs...I'll be back soon as I can", Alex said dismissively and ran to the hallway of the _cop shop_. She heard Gonzales calling her but she ignored him and headed to the parking. Alex started her truck and skilfully drove out of the station.

The used to be 20-minute drive to their apartment was cut short, thanks to her honking and screaming. Alex parked her truck in the driveway and took her time calming herself. She fidgeted to get her keys on the ignition and got out of her truck shaking. She stood by her truck door and spotted a dark-brown haired teenage girl in black leather jacket with two huge bags in tow standing outside her apartment. Alex hesitated to walk to the doorway turning to her truck, fishing out her phone in her jacket pocket to call Nicky. The other line rang twice but was sent to voicemail.

"Fuck! Nichols!"

"Alex!"

Alex turned to the voice that called her and saw the teenager with the toothy grin, obviously happy to see her. Now she felt bad for acting..._bad_. No matter what state she had been, the low husky voice that belonged to the porcelain-skinned dark-brown haired girl would always calm her nerves. Alex made eye contact and slowly, a smile creep up her face.

"Hey kid...It's so good to see you..."

"So how's your mom?"

Alex handed out a cold bottle of beer to the teenager now sitting on the sofa. She took a swig of her own beer and sat across her.

"H-How'd you know I drink?", the teenager hesitated to take the offered drink and looked at Alex.

"I don't. I guess...", Alex took another gulp.

"You're always the cool one...", the teenager smiled and took a swig of her own drink. "And...mom's fine...I guess...She left me..."

"Yeah...Figured that one too...", Alex eyed the two bags on the floor.

"I thought Nichols told you..."

"Yes...she did. So did your mom told you where she's heading?", Alex put down the beer on the coffee table and focus on the teenager.

"No, but she left a note on the fridge telling she's going to live her life now...", the teenager tightened her grip on the bottle and Alex noticed. Alex sighed and took the bottle from her.

"Ofcourse...", Alex sighed remembering what Nicky said awhile ago. "So...where do you plan to stay?", Alex put down the bottle next to hers. The teenager looked at her confused.

"And I thought when you said you talked to Nichols, you mean she told you that I was gonna crash here for awhile..."

"Yeah...Yeah...I mean...", Alex stammered and watched the teenager stood, grabbing her bags. "H-Hey..."

"You know what, Alex...It's fine...If you don't want to—"

"Hey! Hey...Of course I want to...", Alex stood in front of her trying to get her to sit down while grabbing her bags.

"No...Alex...It's fine..."

"No...sit down...we can talk about this..."

They stubbornly fought for the bags while Alex was trying to get the teenager to sit down. It became forceful knocking the couch and then the bottles on the coffee table which fell on the carpeted floor, that's when the front door opened revealing a blonde. Alex turned to look at who entered and cursed as she saw Piper took a step back eyes wide at the scene happening before her. The teenager finally got her bags from Alex's grip and bounced a look at the two.

"P-Pipes...", Alex nervously stammered looking at her wife standing at the front door shocked.

"W-What's happening?", Piper asked bewildered as the teenager slowly raised her hands and pointed at Alex.

"I-It's her fault...", The teenager said."I-I'm Max...by the way..."


	2. Chapter 1 : Intruder

_Chapter 1_

_"__No...No! NO! NONONONO! Alex! NO! ", Alex held Piper tight as she wailed out on the hospital bed even throwing her arms out in the process but Alex took it all in. She tried her hardest to stay strong on the same heart breaking situation they've been through for the third time now. _

_Actually, Alex was hoping that after having experienced the same familiar feeling over and over that she'd already been numb by now but it only felt worse than before. Seeing Piper falling into pieces that she had no idea how to pick up was like scratching the healing wounds inside her. She felt so bad that she couldn't even trust herself to hold Piper any longer without breaking down herself. And she shouldn't break down. Not now. Not when Piper needed her strength. She needed her strong Alex. Her strong Alex that would tell her that everything's going to be alright. _

_**Alright?**_

_Alex mentally scoffed at the thought. Who was she kidding? It would never be alright just like it was not, two trials before. The pain would never vanish even though they try again and succeeded._

_**Try again?**_

_A sob had managed to escape from Alex's lips. Just imagining Piper going through the same shit again made her inside cried out in pain and made her feel somewhat angry. There's no way she would let Piper talk her into trying again. It's too much. It had been too much to take in after six unsuccessful tries and three miscarriages, the idea of having their own child was now dream turned nightmare for her._

_We can't always have it all._

_"__I want to try again...", Piper said breathless after Alex slid out her fingers from inside of her. Alex took in a huge air before laying beside her wife._

_"__Well, Pipes...you know, I never turn down an offer but I think I badly needed to rehydrate myself first...", Alex tried to joke though she knew exactly what Piper meant. The last thing she wanted to talk about after having sex was to __**try again**__. _

_It had been a few weeks after their last trip to the hospital and they hadn't talked about it since then. No one had dared to bring up the topic either. Nobody, not even their family, their closed friends or the two of them. It's like it never happened. Alex didn't know why though, maybe because they felt sorry for them or they thought talking about it would only make the two of them feel bad about their selves, but whatever, for as long as it would help Piper to move on, Alex was ok with it. And so far, not talking about it somehow made Piper slowly picking herself up again, at least Alex thought she was. _

_"__Alex...you know what I mean...I want to try again...", then came those words again._

_"__Pipes...you know exactly what happens every damn time you ask me that!", Alex couldn't remember the last time she had raised her voice to her wife like that but hearing Piper said those words again made her a little intense._

_"__I'm not asking you...I'm just telling you that I__** would**__ try again...", Piper stressed out the word like there's nothing that could ever change her decision and it made Alex clenched her jaw and glare at her stubborn wife._

_"__And what makes you think that I would let you do that?"_

_Piper looked at Alex straight to the eyes. Alex could see a mixture of hope, love and longing written all over those blue orbs. They looked at each other for quite some time that no one bothered to move. Alex gulped when Piper suddenly reached to touch her face. Piper slowly opened her mouth to speak._

_"__Because you know what will makes me happy, and you'll do anything just to give me that..."_

_Knowing Piper, Alex thought at some point after all they've been through that Piper might have given up the idea of having a child just like what she had decided on herself, but looking at the blonde's blue eyes filled with hope and longing for something never had, made Alex neglect her decision. After all the bullshits they've been through in the past, giving Piper what she wanted was the least she could do. _

_"__I'll figure something out babe...I promise..."_

_Piper beamed at Alex and kissed her. Alex smiled at the kiss and took Piper in her arms to spoon her._

_"__I love you Alex...Thank you...", Piper whispered and slowly her eyelids were closing._

_"__I love you too...Piper..."_

_But Alex would never let Piper go through the same horrifying experience again. Like what she said to her, she'll figure something out that would not require Piper to do it again but at the same time have what she wanted. Though she wasn't sure if Piper would love the idea, she thought that it's her best option if Piper would want to make it happen._

* * *

_"__Are you positive with that Nichols? Please make sure it's positive before I break in the news to Piper...R-Really? F-Fuck! That's great! Oh God! Thanks Nichols! I can't wait to tell Piper!", Alex hung up the phone and could help the excited grin on her face. _

_The surrogate that Nicky hired for her was finally pregnant with her eggs and some blonde donor she found in the clinic. Though Piper and her didn't talked about trying again after the night they decided that they would, Alex made sure that she'd done her part of the deal. She didn't tell Piper this because she knows how stubborn Piper could be and she'd insist of carrying the baby instead which Alex didn't want, so she decided to do it in secret and decided to just tell her after it was done. And Alex was pretty confident that Piper wouldn't resist the idea of having a little Alex running around the house so she thought it would be worth it. Alex smiled at the thought of having Piper taking care of her offspring._

_Couldn't wait any longer to tell Piper, Alex stood from the couched and rushed to the bathroom where Piper went to pee. _

_Alex was surprised when Piper literally threw herself to her as soon as she opened the bathroom door. Piper bounced happily in Alex's arms making Alex a lot more confused at what's happening._

_"__Ok...you're freaking me out a little bit now...but can we please let go now 'cos I have something to tell you...", Alex got all excited again at the thought of telling Piper her good news. Piper almost immediately let go of Alex and hid both her hands behind her back, giggling like an idiot._

_"__Hey...babe...did you...smoke crack or something?", Alex asked a little worried now but Piper just giggled more. "Ok...what's that you're hiding? Piper...I swear to god, if you're doing crack without me..."_

_Alex was cut off by some white stick shoved to her face. She moved back a little to see what was she's looking at and almost dropped on the floor when she figured out what was it._

_Two red lines._

_Apparently, they both have different interpretation of__** trying**__**again**__ and Ale's idea just bit her in the back. Now, how was she going to tell Piper her big news? How was she supposed to tell her that she's also having a baby by a surrogate that they both haven't even seen, because looking at Piper, she was all carried away by the big revelation of the pee stick she's holding._

**_This is so messed up._**

_"__I'm pregnant!", Piper shrieked in excitement as Alex's jaw dropped._

_"__Fuck..."_

* * *

"Fuck Alex! What is that girl doing in here? We cannot raise another teenager in the house! One is enough to stress the shit out of me! You, Andy and that intruder? Are trying to kill me, Alex?", Piper threw her handbag on the bed and it stumbled to the floor. If the tone of her voice wasn't enough proof of how mad she was right now, that would prove the point.

"It's just for a few weeks Pipes, it's not that big of a deal..."

"Ofcourse it's _that_ big of a deal!", Piper abruptly faced Alex grabbing a pillow from their bed and threw it square on Alex's face. "We barely knew her! I bet you barely knew her, don't you? And what would Andy say about it? Shit! Alex!"

Alex stepped back looking at Piper's reaction. She's quite sure that Piper would freak out but also expecting that she's going to understand it eventually. Well, she had taken in a juve once before and Piper didn't react as such. Yes, Piper was surprised at first, but she didn't hulk out and threw a pillow at her like now. Though Alex knew that she deserved worse than a flying pillow because first off, she hadn't given Piper an explanation of who Max was and why was she have to live at their apartment for awhile and explained the mistake she did in the past.

"Wow! Aggressive! Piper, seriously?", Alex grabbed the thrown pillow from the floor and walk to the bed placing it gently on it. "You didn't react like that when I brought home Helena..."

"I can be worse!", Piper shouted at Alex directly sending daggers at the brunette. "Helena was sweet...and that punk intruder sitting on the couch smells like trouble!"

Alex tentatively raised her eyebrow and a smirk slowly creeping on her face. Piper unbelievably looked at her making Alex throatily chuckled.

_Seriously? _Piper thought.

"And have you ever actually smelled me?", Alex said with a knowing look in her eyes and licked her lips a little.

Piper raised her eyebrows at that. "Really Alex? You think you're gonna lure me out of this? And what's next? You're gonna handcuff me to the bed and eat me until I comply to your request? Not gonna happen Alex.", Piper nonchalantly said but Alex seemed to like the idea because the teasing smirk that suddenly appeared on her face. Piper rolled her eyes and turned her back at Alex to grab her phone in her bag. "And you're a different kind of trouble, just so you know...", Piper murmured in between her teeth but Alex had managed to hear it.

"Oh yeah? What kind of trouble exactly?", Piper felt Alex's hot break on her ears which immediately sent chills down her spine. And the raspier voice and the hand gently caressing her inner thigh didn't help either to her advantage. Piper closed her eyes tight and fought the desire that's starting in her core. "You like this kind of trouble Piper?", Alex's low chuckle rang through her ears.

Piper bit her lips as Alex's touch became rougher and rougher. She almost gave in until she heard a glass breaking. Piper immediately snapped out of Alex's touch. "What's that?", she said, pushing Alex a little.

"Just the neighbours...C'mon Pipes, we're in trouble remember?", Alex tried to reached Piper but she swatted her hand. Alex looked at her in disbelief. "Really Piper? Violence? That's two in a row..."

"Shut up Alex! I heard glass breaking in the kitchen! Our neighbours don't live in the kitchen! It's the intruder, and she's making a mess already as I expected!", Piper snapped at Alex in which Alex just sighed and tried to get hold of Piper again.

"Relax Pipes...It's just a glass...", another swat.

"No, Alex! You're not having any until that kid is out!"

"You wouldn't resist...", and they're back in the game.

Alex stepped closer but Piper still glared at her.

"Don't you dare..."

"Dare what?"

Alex pulled Piper roughly to her body.

"Try me!"

"Oh you love it Pipes..."

Hot breath on the neck.

"I don't...", Piper breathlessly said, avoiding Alex's lustful eyes.

"Are trying to seduce me? Is this foreplay? Are we having a..."

"Fuck you Alex!"

"Well, that's easy..."

"Hey! I'm not e-"

"Mom! Are we having dinner or what? I'm starving—What the hell!", their daughter's outburst and bag dropping on the floor interrupted the women's 'foreplay'. At least Alex thought was.

Piper looked at Alex who suddenly dropped the smirk off her face. _I told you so. _Alex rolled her eyes as Piper waved her off to deal with their daughter before she 'bitch around the intruder in the house'.

"Nice, nice timing your daughter has."

"She sure knows when to enter. I thought her well. Now go and quit complaining. And she's your daughter too you know."

"She's just some white blonde uptight teenager to me when she's overacting and shit..."

"Shut up Alex!"

Alex walked to the living room finding calm and composed Max on the couch and her blonde raging daughter pointing a dangerous finger accusingly at her. Alex sighed before Andy burst out yet again.

"What is that thing doing sitting on the couch! She's not supposed to be here!"


	3. Chapter 2 : Kingpin

Chapter 2

So this is my first fic and I apologize for the mistakes but I really hope you like my story. Thank you. And this is AU, so.

Peace out. :)

* * *

"What is that thing doing sitting on the couch! She's not supposed to be here!"

_Same reaction. Mother and daughter. _

Alex rolled her eyes.

"Did she talk to you?! Did you talk to my moms?", Andy talked so fast that her words jumbled while looking like her eyes would popped out her socket any moment. Max just smirked in which Alex raised her eyebrow suddenly amused. "Alex! Whatever that _thing_ said to you is not true! I'm your daughter! You should believe me! She's lying! I mean, I didn't even intend to do that! I wasn't in my correct state of mind! I swear Alex! She's a liar! A big fat ass ugly liar!"

"Woah woah woah! Shut your twat deer in the headlights! You're being caught by your own fucking mouth! And I'm not fat! And obviously not ugly! Are you blind or something shithead?", Max stood up facing Andy. They continue to shout shit at each other in which Alex thought better to let them be though curious about the interaction happening in the living room.

Alex took a step and motioned for the two. "Andy, baby...this is—"

"I know!", both girls snapped back at her then continued to shout at each other. Alex raised her eyebrows and scoffed.

"I guess there's no need for introduction then...", Alex looked over her shoulder to see Piper standing behind her. She looked at Piper staring at the duo who was throwing grudges at each other then huffed.

"Saved my ass. And she's indeed your daughter, you know. Foot in mouth...", Piper shoved Alex while rolling her eyes in which Alex chuckled, then walked to the teenagers before they ripped each other's body parts.

"Hey! Hey! Stop it! What's going on in here?", Piper got in between the two who answered almost at the same time.

"Your daughter's gross!"

"That thing is dangerous!"

Piper looked at the two girls back and forth before Max snapped again at her daughter.

"And just so you know, I have a fucking name, its Max! Max Nichols! You respect that 'cos my mom gave it to me! It's the only thing she's left me, now that she's probably cruising across the globe to live her fucking life without me! And just so we clear, I did not mention anything to any of your mom not like what you just did! You dumb ass.", Piper gasped hearing the familiar last name. She turned to look at Alex in the corner of her eyes seeing her raising her hand to cover her face.

_What the fuck! _Piper thought.

Piper turned to look at her daughter curious of what she would say about that but Andy just opened her mouth unable to speak. Piper turned her head to look at Alex who looked back at her and just shrugged slowly. Piper decided to wave off the realization she had for awhile and focused on her daughter.

"Is there something you want to tell us, Andy?", Piper put her hand on her daughter's shoulder and tried to search for her eyes but her head was hung low. "Honey, just say it."

"Andy, your mom's talking to you. Look at her.", Alex said and saw Max shaking her head smirking.

_Did my daughter do something naughty?_ Alex raised her perfect eyebrows suspiciously.

"Andy. It's ok. Just talk to me.", Piper turned her daughter's head to look at her but Andy resisted, tears were starting to swell in her eyes. Worry started to creep inside Piper as she looked at her shaking daughter.

"Did you do something dirty? Did you fuck somebody?", Alex's question made Max almost burst out laughing but held it.

"What the fuck Alex!", Piper snapped at Alex as Andy let go of the sob she's been holding and ran heavily to her room. Max collapsed on the couch laughing. "Shut up!", Piper furiously pointed a finger at Max who quit laughing and raised her hands surrendering.

"Where you going kid? I thought you were hungry? We're having Chinese!", Alex yelled looking at the trail her daughter just left and chuckled with Max joining her. She noticed Piper looking at her obviously furious than before. "What?"

"You stupid idiot! We still need to talk!", Piper bumped at Alex rather hard storming out of the living room.

Alex was stunned for a second and a little worried about her baby girl but shrugged it off. Surely, Andy wouldn't do such things. Her daughter was a celibate. She was confident about her daughter and what just happened was probably because Andy was surprised to see someone she knew sitting on their couch. Maybe Andy was just embarrassed and shit. Alex didn't even know that the two knew each other though she knew they go to the same school but wouldn't possibly interact since they were completely different in terms of everything but the reaction at the living room intrigued her more but at the same time worried at the fact that the two obviously didn't like each other and might be really hard before they get along.

Alex was also aware of her insensitivity right now but her happiness seeing Max in the living room of her own apartment was so overwhelming and indescribable. It's her _family._ She felt contented but nervous all in all. This was all she ever wanted and at the same time all she was afraid of. Nonetheless, Alex smiled at the thought.

* * *

_"So what's the big emergency Vause?"_

_Alex was welcomed by Nicky's booming voice as soon as she saw her walking to her at the secluded part of the diner they agreed to meet up. Alex immediately slipped in the booth across her former king pin._

_"Abort mission Nicky! Abort mission!", Alex almost immediately blurted out and Nicky was a little taken back._

_"Ok. How 'bout I buy us a beer first...", Nicky said as she waved over at a waitress._

_"No time for that, we have a big bust in 30 minutes.", Alex nearly shouted at Nicky._

_"Right...", Nicky said, surprised. "So how about we do this some other time when we're not in the way of your busy schedule because apparently, we'll need a lot more time than 30 fucking minutes..."_

_"Twenty minutes. I still have to ride to the scene...", Alex snapped._

_"Fine...So fucking get to the point already then!", Nicky motioned her hand to Alex while grabbing the beer the waitress just put on the table._

_"Abort it!", Alex repeated._

_"What 'it'?", Nicky gulped the beer._

_"The seed Nicky! Abort the seed!", Alex blurted out._

_"Your seed? Fuck Alex! What's with the rush!", Nicky said a little bewildered while chugging another round of beer._

_"Piper's pregnant...", Alex said with a hand on her head._

_Nicky choked at the beer she's drinking. "What fuck! Chapman? Your Chapman?"_

_"Yes Nicky! My Chapman!", Alex ducked on the table._

_"Fuck Alex! What a treat! Two kids? That's huge..."_

_"I know! And I cannot raise two kids at the same time! I'm not equip to that!"_

_"Obviously.", Nicky snickered putting down the beer. "So, did you tell her already?"_

_"Are you kidding me? Ofcourse not!", Alex raised her head almost immediately._

_"Why not? She has to know about this and maybe be given a part in the decision making that you failed to give her at the beginning."_

_"Nicky. You didn't saw her face when she literally shoved her pee covered pregnancy kit in my face!"_

_"Really? Ha! Chapman...", Nicky shook her head amused._

_"It's different from all the positive results she'd received before. She's like a fucking kid who smoked crack for the first time! She's just too high from the big news!", Alex sunk in the booth._

_"And you don't want to ruin it by saying you decided to have a baby too but in another woman's body..."_

_"She wouldn't understand..."_

_"Then why'd you decided to do it in the first place?", Alex looked at Nicky who stare her down. Alex didn't know what to say._

_"She's stubborn Nicky..."_

_"And so are you Vause! You didn't even think about the consequences first before you do it! You're a fuck up too, you know that!", Nicky slammed the beer on the table. "God! You're selfish!"_

_"Then why'd you agreed to help me anyway?", Alex returned the guilt._

_"To get back to you for trading the cartel for some badge you can buy at the counter. Now you learn your lesson Vause..."_

_"You didn't even know that this is gonna happen..."_

_"Yes, it was nothing like how I expected it to be, but it's even better..."_

_"Fuck you!"_

_Nicky laughed and silence fell on the table for awhile._

_"So...", Alex began. "You'll abort it?"_

_"No Alex. I may be an addict/drug dealer but I'm no killer."_

_"What? What am I suppose to do with that thing?"_

_"We'll keep it. It's a great back up plan...Well, of all people; it's you who know how Chapman's baby carriage operates. It may come in handy in the future..."_

_"That's so fucked up Nichols!"_

_"Yeah...just like you..."_

_"Shut up!", Alex rolled her eyes then something came to her. "Hey, you know I haven't met the surrogate, right?"_

_"Don't worry its fine. I got it."_

_"Well, can you tell me her name at least?"_

_"Diane."_

_Alex looked at Nicky while recalling when she last heard that name. Then it came to her._

_"What the fuck Nicky! You made Diane carry my thing!"_

_"Yeah, and that's a discussion we'll have some other time...C'mon detective, your 20 minutes' over."_

* * *

"Hey, Alex...Are you, spacing out on me now?", Max snapped her fingers in front of Alex's face that brought her back to earth. Alex abruptly looked at Max a little displeased at the action.

"That's rude...we need a little do-over with your actions kid.", Alex scolded.

"Yeah, well not paying attention when someone's talking is not exactly as rude...", Max sarcastically replied.

Alex pursed her lips. "Sorry kid. You were saying?"

"Never thought in a thousand years that _that_ girl can cry.", Max said shaking her head.

"Oh yeah? Well she's pretty dramatic actually.", Alex chuckled walking to the coffee table to pick up some leaflets to order.

"Yeah, You know I'm allergic to drama so, I don't think I'll last here for long which is what this whole household obviously want...", Max deadpanned as Alex looked at her guilty.

Alex bit her bottom lip, resisting the urge to kick herself in the butt. She just pretended to scan at the leaflets she got.

"In the mood for pizza, kid? Though I know I just announced in the whole household that we're having Chinese..."

"She's a bully.", Max suddenly stated. Alex looked at her from the leaflet she's holding. "And yeah, she's fucked somebody..."

That made Alex dropped the leaflet on the floor.


	4. Chapter 3 : Issues

Chapter 3

"Andy! Andy, please talk to my baby. Hey, I'm sorry if I...embarrassed you or something...but—please baby, just talk to me...please..", Alex patiently knocked on Andy's door when she heard sobbing. Alex momentarily kicked herself for being such a jerk and slid down on the floor. "Please, Andy?"

"No! Go away Alex!", Alex sensed a pillow thrown to the door so she picked herself up from the floor. She sighed at the familiarity of the situation and tried to knock again.

_A pillow_._ Seriously? To be thrown at two pillows was too much for the night. _

"Andy, c'mon! We need to talk about this...Now!", Alex ordered.

"No Alex! Listen!", a pause. "Right, you don't anything and I'm not talking to you about this! Because apparently, you don't know me, 'cos you ain't got time!", and that's her cue to leave.

* * *

Alex entered the bedroom paler than her usual porcelain skin. She walked to the bed dragging her feet with her when Piper looked at her from her phone. Alex slowly sat down on the bed almost falling from the side. Though worried why Alex's mood suddenly changed from a confident fuck to a mule that almost got busted in the airport, Piper still refused to speak to her wife, even she said earlier that they needed to talk. Piper's mad. Very mad, so she just watched Alex slowly stepped in their bed and tugged under the covers then she returned to scroll down her phone.

"She fucked around...", Alex finally spoke. "Your daughter...she fucked around..."

Piper looked at Alex who was still staring at nowhere.

"Yeah...I know. She's a mess back there, and judging by it, she was too devastated to see that punk—who's obviously not her favourite person, sitting on the couch in her own damn house. Seriously Alex, would it hurt to do a background check first before you decide to throw in people in this house? Alex! You're a detective now for fuck's sake! Hadn't the academy thought you to interrogate first before anything else? Where did you meet this kid anyway? She's not somehow related with any of your connections...was she?", the last sentence that Piper said made Alex turned to face her. Her face seemed to lose all its blood and was thankful that Piper was still busying herself with her phone and not looking at her, or she would see how freaked out she was right now.

"Y-Your daughter fucked around and that's all you have to say?", Alex struggled a little to say that.

"And it's your fault...You brought that intruder..."

"It's not tha—why is it my fault? It's not like I encouraged her to charm high school boys and fucked in the bathroom on the second floor of her school a few rooms away from Max's Literature Class...Hey, what are doing with your phone anyway?"

After realizing what Alex just said, Piper slammed her phone on the bedside and hastily got off their bed when Alex beat her to the door.

"No Pipes...She's still upset and...Embarrassed...which was obviously my fault. So, let's just deal with this tomorrow?", Alex remembered Andy's word. It was a kicked in the ass. After all, Andy's right. Because of her job, she hardly had time to bond with her daughter. Piper looked at Alex. She was shaking. Piper got a little worried.

_What? Since when did she avoid an opportunity to fuck someone over?_ Piper thought.

"You know exactly that it's you, who asked her!", Piper stepped closer to Alex.

"I know...and I was just kidding...I was confident in her that she wouldn't do any of that thing...but now, that I had known about it...I mean, we've done this thing too right? We've been teenagers too...and the hormones, curiosity...It's just...over powering and we too gave in...But she's...she's just 17, Pipes...my baby's...she's just 17! It's just hurts...its hurts so much...am I a failure? Haven't we given her enough attention for her to seek for that...Pipes! I'm a failure! I fail our baby...I failed her...", Piper held Alex let her emotions filled her. Alex, she's worried and now she's self pitying. Blaming herself. Piper couldn't take to look at Alex looking like this, even though she's mad at her, still she buried her face in the wife's neck tightening her hold on Alex. "I didn't even know she got this issues...I don't know her anymore! And it sucks 'cos I think I know more of a criminal than my own daughter!"

"Alex, baby...that's not true...you're a great mother. Even greater than your mom and that's saying a lot...please don't say that...she's just...Andy's just...exploring...we gave her everything...she's our baby...but we should be aware that even we gave our everything, there's always be something that we do not have that she wants...and we haven't heard the whole story...well, she might be forced for all we know!", Alex's eyes widen at what Piper said. Piper broke free from Alex's arms and looked at her in the face. "You're the best parent she could ever ask for...remember that babe..."

Alex doubted Piper's words for a second but let it go when Piper kissed her. It was sweet. A reassuring kissed that crashed all her doubt away.

"Aren't you at least worried?", Alex asked sceptical.

"Wha—Of course I'm worried! I'm mortified really! I want to kill that jerk who fucked our daughter! But...this...This is just so overwhelming! You bringing that intruder, not even telling me a single fucking detail about her then I'm having the most ridiculous assumptions ever, and apparently, my daughter knew the girl more than I should...then...Andy...Andy fucking around...Alex...It's just...just so overwhelming that it clouded my judgment for awhile...You know what I mean?", Alex looked at her confused wife who's fighting the urged to break down or probably raged. There's so much she wanted to tell her. So much she wanted to explain to Piper but seeing her like this? Now is surely not the right time.

"I know baby. Trust me, I know. But please...trust me too about this shit...I promise, this is for everyone's good. I fucked up...but believe me...I never would have wanted that to happen...Maybe, for awhile...but I never would have thought that it will come to this...", what Alex said made Piper looked at her. Alex avoided her eyes and leaned back on the door. She looked lost and hurt.

"Baby...please...just tell me...I'm not sure I could handle it well knowing you've been hiding something from me...it's too much, babe..."

Alex debated with her thoughts for awhile opening her mouth to speak but closed it instantly. Piper sighed and stepped back a little knowing Alex won't spill anything at the moment.

"Not now...", then came silence.

No one dared to move from their spot while they just both stare at nowhere. Piper knew better than to push Alex for more. It would always come out wrong. Alex would open up if she felt like it's the right moment though Piper knew it would take a while, she needed to be patient. She should be patient. Piper sighed and reached for Alex's arm to make her look at her. Alex did.

Looking at those green orbs, Piper swallowed all her issues and let go of her anger for awhile. She couldn't stay mad at this woman for too long. Well, it's kinda like their thing. They threw grudges at each other, fucked over each other, but still they would make up and this time not because of sex. Piper smiled at that.

_God! We're getting old._

"So, tell me. Who told you about Andy?", Piper asked.

"Max..."

"Of course...", Piper shoved Alex out of the doorway a little and opened the door.

"Piper!", Alex tried to stopped her wife.

"Relax. We just need a little chat...It won't take long...", Alex looked at Piper's eyes and saw that her wife's just needed some answers concerning their daughter so she stepped out her way and let Piper out of their room. Little did she know that it was something more.

"So, where's her bunk?"

"The ghetto. She's better off with the black people..."

"Racism? Really Alex?"

Piper laughed a little as Alex finally smiled.

Alex saw Piper turned the corner to the far most side of their apartment. She went to go back to bed when Piper's phone beeped with a text message. Curious of whom it was and why her wife was so engrossed in the device awhile ago, Alex peeped on the screen. Her eyes widened immediately.

_Nicky: What the fuck do you want Chapman?_

* * *

_"__So, it's Diane...Seriously Nichols?", Alex waved off the beer that was being offered to her when she followed Nicky to the kitchen of her huge apartment. Nicky raised her eyebrows staring at her._

_"__Right. If we're gonna talk about this, you'd probably gonna need this.", Nicky shoved the bottle in front of Alex. Alex abruptly took it and drank the contents in a beat. Nicky was amused and sat on the kitchen counter drinking her own beer. "Ok, but you'll probably gonna regret that..."_

_Alex slammed the empty bottle on the counter and looked at Nicky, square to her face. "Now! Hurry up! 'Cos I've got an arrest in—__" __Burp._

_Nicky snickered and drank her beer. "What did I tell ya?"_

_"__Shut up!"_

_"__Ok...I will", Nicky pursed her lips._

_"__God! Nicky! Just say it!", Alex impatiently grabbed the beer Nicky was holding and glared at her._

_"__Well first off...Give me back my beer...", Nicky said all serious as Alex handed out the bottle. "Thanks...and calm down 'cos your aggressiveness might be attractive for your wife but not for me..."_

_Alex sighed and took the leather chair near the counter and settled down._

_"__Good...", Nicky smiled. "Look, you know you asked me to get you a bitch, right?"_

_"__A surrogate...Nicky...A surrogate."_

_"__And that too...", Alex rolled her eyes. "See, I couldn't think of anyone rather than that Sapphic blonde chick with perky little titties that you fucked over right after the straight uptight blonde college chick left you...I mean your standards went over from what? Huge fucking milk jobs to cute little mouthfuls in just a snap?"_

_"__That is not what I wanted to hear Nichols!", Alex pointed a dangerous finger at her as Nicky chuckled._

_"__What'd you want me to say?"_

_"__Why of all you'd decided to pick my ex!"_

_"__To mess with you?", Nicky smirked._

_"__What!", Alex abruptly stood from the chair. "You did all of this just so you can fucking mess with me? What am I? A fucking tv drama of some shit?"_

_"__Easy, tiger…", Nicky smirked and got off the counter. "Well, it's entertaining really…",_

_"__Fuck you Nichols!", Alex pushed Nicky hard to the counter. "This isn't funny! And you know what…", Alex gritted. "I thought you are a friend…but you know what…I should've known better than to trust a fucked up junky like you!"_

_"__What the fuck! Yeah you shouldn't have…", Nicky snapped at Alex. "Like I shouldn't have trusted you! Alex! You're destroying the cartel! My business! If only I had known that you would give up the job and choose to be a fucking detective in the fucking drug unit then I shouldn't have given you the opportunity in the first place! But that would be fucking ironic 'cos you wouldn't have met the love of your life if it wasn't because of this job!"_

_"__That's not true! I don't need that job to get her!"_

_"__Oh really? What was your introduction in that fucking bar?"_

_"__That I'm Alex?"_

_"__Fuck! You told her that you work for an international drug cartel!"_

_"__So?"_

_"__Fuck. You're the worst...", Nicky sighed. "Tell me, how'd you suppose to get a boring little girl from Connecticut that wanted to be special and bad to sleep with?"_

_"__What are you pointing at?! Nicky! You know I could get her if I please. This is not a fucking game! Seriously, don't ruin my life just because Lorna left you when she found out that you owned a fucking cartel!"_

_"__Then, what do you want me to do!"_

_"__Abort it!"_

_"__Fuck no Vause!", Nicky smashed the bottle on the counter. "I don't have the heart to do that!"_

_"__And you have the heart to destroy multiple lives just to have the life you selfishly want?", Alex yelled and Nicky stared at her. "Nicky, Piper's pregnant and I couldn't say shit, so please...just abort it. I had so much in my fucking life."_

_"__No, Vause...please, don't say that shit...", Nicky bit her bottom lip. Alex didn't know what the hell was wrong with Nicky and why she's being like this but sure she knew nothing would make her change her mind._

_"__Then, I'll do it. I'll make Dianne abort that..."_

_"__Jesus! Vause! Don't you get it? I don't want to abort the kid!"_

_"__Then why?"_

_"__Fuck! Because I want it!", Alex was taken back._

_"__What? You want my baby?"_

_"__No! I mean...yes.", Nicky mumbled. Alex unbelievably looked at her._

_"__Jesus! Do you even know what you're saying right now!", Alex held Nicky on both arms and shook her with force. Of all people, it's her who knew how messed up Nicky would be when Lorna left her, but she didn't except Nicky to direct her anger to her. Why would she do that? Why would she want to want to ruin her too?_

_"__Vause...", Nicky looked at her straight to the eyes. "We got fucked over, and do fucked up choices. Sure, I was mad at you for giving up the cartel. I was mad at you when you tried to ruin your life for a girl who fucked you over! I was mad at you for messing with my deals and locking up my mules! Mostly, I was fucking mad at you for leaving me behind, never contacting me until now that you needed my fucking help! Again! Vause! I fucking give you a life! I fucking cared for you when Chapman left you and this is how you'll repay me? And then Lorna left. My first instinct was to call you. To fucking call you because I thought we still had each other's back after all, but you changed your goddamn number! I couldn't reach you, I couldn't talk to anyone else, I didn't know what I will fucking do!"_

_"__So this is revenge! Seriously Nicky, I'm really really sorry. I never should've done that, I mean I never should've abandoned you, but this? Nick please..."_

_"__No! God! Why are you so goddamn stupid!", Nicky pushed Alex. "Yes! Alex! I'm mad at you! I got blinded by revenge! I did this to get back at you, but it never occurred to me that I was destroying an innocent being's life even before it will learn how to breathe! Alex, it's your seed for god's sake! Your fucking kid!", Nicky knocked out sense from Alex. She grabbed her collar and pulled her to her eye level to burn her eyes with guilt. _

_Alex was stricken unable to even swallow the lump that's forming in her throat. Nicky was right. It's her kid. Her fucking kid!_

**_Why would I ever think of aborting my own kid? Killing...it_**_._

_Alex's knees suddenly became weak after the realization. Now it came to her how fucking selfish she'd been, only thinking of how she could get herself out of bad situations not even thinking how it would affect others. Alex bit her lip and looked at the floor. She couldn't bring herself to look at Nicky. Yes, she fucked her over but what she said just now, made Alex felt like a dick._

_"__Now tell me Alex, do you even know what you're asking me to do?", Nicky said in all seriousness._

_"__Nicky...I'm sorry."_

_"__Tell that to your kid when he told you he get boo boo's or when he laugh at your stupid jokes or even when he's scared of the monsters under his bed. Because you almost didn't let him feel or experience those shit...", Alex smiled. "And you know...I'm sorry too..."_

_"__Yeah, We're assholes..."_

_"__But seriously Vause, don't rush it. I mean, if you're not yet ready to tell Chapman about this, then take your time 'cos I swear, I got your back this time. I will take care of that kid like how I take care of you, but no drugs. I promise...", Nicky raised her right hand and swear. Alex rolled her eyes. She grabbed the leather chair to sit on when she remembered Piper._

_"__Yes...Piper.", Alex sighed. "Nicky, she'll get mad at me! And she'll get mad at me more when she finds out that my ex was the surrogate. You know how her mind works! She might leave me!"_

_"__Where the fuck did that came from? Alex! Why would she leave you just like that? I mean, it's not like you and Diane were shagging behind her back! You just impregnated her! No strings attached."_

_"__I don't know Nicky. I'm just scared, I guess. After all, I really did something shitty behind her back."_

_"__Well, blame your romantic self. You should've asked her first before you did this..."_

_"__I know! I'm so fucking stupid!", Alex raised her hand to her face._

_"__But I mean it Vause, I got you now. I got your kid. Well, it's my fault you're in this mess, am I not?"_

* * *

Alex glared at the glowing device. She sighed and grabbed it from the bed side table. She read the text message again.

_Nicky: What the fuck do you want Chapman?_

Since when did Piper start contacting Nicky? And where did she get her number? Alex was pretty sure they hadn't met each other since Piper left her in Paris. But why this text message?

Then the same feeling that she felt 17 years ago came back to her. Terrified. Alex was terrified that soon Piper would find out about her secret and she'd hate her because she had left her in the dark for that long.

"Fuck Nichols. Hadn't I paid my debts yet?", Alex tightened her hold of Piper's phone. "I should've told her back then...",

_Deleted._


	5. Chapter 4 : Secrets

Chapter 4

Piper opened the door of the room and found Max on the bed hiding behind a book.

_Laura Ingalls Wilder?_ Piper raised her eyebrow a little amused at the book the 'intruder' was holding.

"Little House? Seriously?", Piper scoffed which Max heard and almost immediately threw the book on the floor. "I didn't know you read..."

"Well, obviously...judgemental much...", Piper gave her a look. "I'm about to sleep, woman, so...could you just scoot, you know, go to your room and just shag your wife instead...", Max faked a yawn closing her eyes dramatically.

"Manners, kid. Manners. If you're living in my house, in which I haven't agreed yet, you should know how to show respect. Got that?", Piper looked at Max with authority written on her face.

"Psh. Uptight blondes who always think they're in-charge...", Max said rolling her eyes. "Just go. I wanna sleep."

"Great. I can sense some resemblance there.", Piper quietly said while turning to leave. Max happened to hear what she said and shot her eyes shortly.

"What do you mean, blondie?", Piper jolted hearing Max suddenly asked. Piper turned to look at Max who had gotten up to sat crossed leg on the bed, ready to talk. "Tell me all you know..."

Piper thought for a second and walked to the bed then sat at the edge of it. She didn't want to get close to Max, yet. Not until she knows what the intruder's doing in her house. That was the first thing Piper asked Alex but she failed to answer it. Alex seemed to be dodging the subject and just kept on insisting that she needed to stay for a few weeks. Piper didn't even know the girl. Hell, she haven't even seen her before so why would Alex think she would agree to let her stay in their house? Not that she wouldn't agree at all well, she might consider it if Alex properly introduced her and explained the reason of her stay. But not telling any details and just kept on insisting to let her stay? Piper was not that compassionate. Their house's not some orphanage or rehab that Alex thinks she could bring in any unfortunate homeless teenager roaming around the street to teach them good manners and right conduct. Not even thinking that girl could be her daughter's schoolmate.

_Stupid, stupid Alex. _Piper shook her head.

"So...", Piper heard Max and saw her looking at her eagerly. She seemed to want some answers too as well.

"So...", Piper stretched out the word unable to know where to begin. "Your last name is Nichols, right?" Max confirmed it by nodding slowly in which Piper nodded with her. "So...D-Do you happen to know...uhmm...you know...Nicky? Nicole Nichols?"

"Ha!", Max scoffed and leaned back a little while looking at Piper straight to the eyes. Piper must admit it. Max's intimidating eyes somehow reminded her of a certain woman who's at the moment probably pacing back and forth, worried while waiting for her to come back to their room.

"Maybe...", Max held her look, then scoffed. "Lemme guess...Your ultra sexy badass cop of a wife didn't mention anything to you? So, you're here, just so you can interrogate me because you're frustrated since she kept on insisting to let me stay but wouldn't answer any of your damn questions...", Max smirked.

_That smirk. _Piper thought for a moment while staring at the familiarity.

Unable to retort at the girl, Piper opened and closed her mouth like a fucking blabber fish. She had read her like an open book. But normally, she would always have something to say. There's just something about the girl that made her speechless somehow.

Max laughed mocking the blonde. "I should have known...C'mon blondie...Get up. It's getting late. We both need to rest...", Max stood up and motioned for Piper to leave. Piper got up and turned to the door while Max was pushing her out.

"No...Wait. You...Wait! Max! What the—How'd you know about Andy?!", before Piper could point out why the hell this girl had such an effect on her, she was already pushed outside the room followed by the shutting door. She banged at the door a few times before she heard a low muffled 'Goodnight! Just go fuck your wife!' from the other side of the door.

_What the hell!_

Piper slowly walked to her room while deliberating what just happened.

* * *

"So how was your trip to the ghetto?", Piper opened the door finding Alex with a book.

_Prairie? Seriously?_ Piper cocked an eyebrow looking at the book Alex was holding.

"How many times have your mother read that one to you?", Piper sarcastically said as she walked to her other side of the bed and reached out for her phone on the bedside while she heard Alex put down the book and her glasses and scooted to spoon her. "And the ghetto's not as loud as I expected it to be..."

Alex chuckled but stopped when she saw Piper checking her phone and sighed.

_No reply._

And just like that, the mood had turned upside down. It was all silence. Piper figured that this might be the end of the night when Alex suddenly slipped her hand in her shirt making her jolt at the touch.

"Speaking of loud...", Alex proceeded to kiss down the back of her neck.

"Al...it's late...we have work tomorrow and the kids need to be at school by 7...", Piper hide the moan that almost escaped her lips.

Alex leaned back a little cocking her eyebrow looking at the back of Piper's head. Piper felt her eyes on her and slowly turned to face her wife. Alex was looking at her hopeful. They looked at each other's eyes when Alex finally broke into a smile.

"Just for a week...and I'm hoping you have explained everything to me by then...", Piper said making Alex grinned widely.

"God! I love you Pipes!"

Piper didn't know what she was thinking at the moment. All she knew was no matter what she did, this super hot and irresistible woman holding her would always have the same effect on her and she wouldn't able to say 'no' to her. She couldn't say no to her. She's Alex Vause for god's sake! Whatever happens, Piper trusts her. Though she wasn't completely certain of her decision, she knew Alex would never intend to fuck up and hurt her, so she put everything on the line and trust her about this girl. Whoever she was, Piper could feel she was someone Alex cared about and it haunted her to know why. She badly wanted to know why Alex cared so much that she couldn't even hide it. Alex was always good in hiding things and shit. All these years Alex had hidden something to Piper and she hadn't had a single fucking clue about it. But how come her care for the Max was radiating and she couldn't able to hide it? It was so obvious that it bothered Piper, so she decided to go with it and let Alex do her thing. Piper would know eventually. She just has to wait and be patient.

Alex sensed Piper got tensed. She turned Piper to face her and looked her in the eyes.

"Hey...what's wrong?", Alex whispered on Piper's lips. Piper just looked at her worried wife trying to get lost in her beautiful blue and green orbs. She sighed letting her breath roll on Alex's lips which she knew would send blood rushing through her wife's body. Alex shivered and held Piper tighter.

"Nothing babe...", Piper quietly said before pulling Alex kissing her hard on the lips. Alex responded almost immediately slipping her tongue to Piper's mouth and shivered when their tongue made contact. She positioned herself on top of Piper not breaking the heated kiss. Piper broke the kiss and whispered in Alex's ears.

"Go on baby...Show me how grateful you are..."

Not wasting any more time Alex held Piper tight almost crashing her bones and kissed her hard. Piper smiled in the kiss. They made love all night washing all the guilt and questions out of their head.

* * *

_"I told you, I'll take care of everything. Just deliver that kid and be gone. Ok?", frustrated, Nicky leaned on the table while tightening her grip on the bottle of beer she's holding._

_"I know. I know! But what would happen to me after that?", the blonde girl sitting across from Nicky almost yelled in equal frustration. _

_"Hey! Keep down your voice!", Nicky gritted. "Ok...What do you want from me, Diane? Jesus! Am I not giving you enough? Do I need to double your pay?"_

_"For god's sake! I don't need the money!", Diane smashed her hand on the table. "You know exactly that I agreed to this because you told me that Alex wasn't happy with that bitch and you'll work out something for the two of us. Nicky! You know how much I love Alex and I'll do anything to get her back but this doesn't seem like I'm doing just that! I'm carrying her baby while you're locking me up in that crappy little apartment all by myself and you're not allowing me to contact anybody! And you know what's worst? I'm getting fat and stretch marks! So much for getting Alex back! That's not even flattering!"_

_"Fuck you whiny bitch! What the hell am I suppose to do?—"_

_"Hey...", Nicky shot her eyes and growled when she was cut off by someone speaking. Both women looked at the blonde standing next to the table. When Nicky realized who it was, her eyes widened in shock. "Fuck."_

_"Hello. Can we help you?", Diane sarcastically asked looking at the other blonde. Nicky was still and couldn't even look at the other blonde without feeling guilty all of a sudden. She abruptly stood and pulled her outside the restaurant. "Hey! Nicky! Where you going!"_

_When they're finally outside, Nicky took a time looking at the woman in front of her just to make sure her eyes weren't fucking with her. When the blonde smiled at her, Nicky cursed under her breath realizing that it really was her._

**_What is Chapman doing here?_**

_"I'm so glad to see you Nicky! Look at you! You look great!", Piper step in to hug Nicky._

_"Ok. Don't fuck with me. What are you doing here?", Nicky dodged the hug and looked at Piper._

_"Well, I'm fine. If that's what you're asking...", Piper chuckled._

**_She had no idea. _**_Nicky sighed._

_Nicky didn't say anything and just looked at her still with that smile. Honestly, she didn't trust herself at speaking because she knew she might say **anything** so she just waited for Piper to talk. Piper sighed._

_"Ok. So, Alex had been a little distant lately except for her phone which you know wasn't normal unless she's up for something and I got worried 'cos she was only like that well, unless it's **business**, you know...", Piper started._

_"Man, you're aware that she's a detective now right?", Nicky scoffed._

_"I know! And that worries me more. I mean, business, my business isn't good right now and well, being a government **property** wasn't giving us much, you know, 'cos something come up and we'll need money so yeah, I got worried that she might be back in **business, **and..."_

_"Man! That's ridiculous!"_

_"I know right!", Piper laughed a little and Nicky just looked at her. "But I mean, it's Alex! She's unpredictable, right?"_

**_Still full of shit. _**_Nicky thought._

_"So, yeah, I checked her phone and found this anonymous number she'd been texting with and I panicked. So I tracked down the number and it brought me right here!" _

_"Wai—Wai—Wait...You tracked down my number?"_

_"Yeah! Well, perks of being a detective's wife.", Piper grinned. "Jeez! I'm so glad to see you! Why did Alex never mentioned you're back in town?"_

_"You know my **business**, she might be protecting me or something..."_

_"She do?"_

_"Yeah, she might. It's so sweet of your wife...", Nicky smirked but Piper frowned a little. "But you know, she shook off my business sometimes...locking up my mules and getting in my ways, some shit like that..."_

_"That's...That's horrible...I mean, good for Alex but..."_

_"Yeah well, let's not talk about my **business**, shall we?", Nicky waved off the topic._

_"Ok...Hey, how's Lorna by the way? 'Cos I see you have a new chick back there...and I noticed she had a baby bump or something, or am I just hallucinating?"_

_"Yeah, let's not talk about that...either..."_

_Nicky got aware of Piper's look. Like she's examining her or something. She knew Piper didn't come here just to catch up and give friendly hugs and shit, so Nicky did her best to just act as normal as she could. She stepped back a little ready to go back to the restaurant when Piper spoke._

_"Hey, I'm pregnant!", Piper announced with enthusiasm._

_"Good for you kid!", Nicky faked excitement._

**_She didn't sound even a little surprised. Maybe Alex already told her. _**_Piper thought. _

"_Listen kid, I'm really happy to see you and all, but I got something to deal with, you know. So, I'll talk to you later?", Piper noticed that Nicky was a little eager to get back inside so she let her go. Maybe she's interrupting something. She doesn't know._

_"Ok...it's good to see you Nicky...", Piper said at Nicky and smiled at her._

_When Piper was about to turn and leave, Nicky called her._

_"Hey!", Piper turned to her wife's former boss raising her eyebrow in question. "Just don't mention anything to Vause."_

_"Why?"_

_"I don't know, to get back to her for keeping a secret from you?"_

_"What?", Piper chuckled but Nicky didn't return it. She just walked and opened the door of the restaurant. Piper was left confused and she didn't know why but she really didn't mention anything to her wife._

* * *

"Just don't fuck up so much there, kid"

_"But, mom! Blondie is so—"_

"I know...She's WASPy...Just try to get along with her...", Nicky grabbed the beer that the bartender put down on the counter and drank it.

_"I can't do this—why can't I just go with you?", _Max sounded so down on the phone and Nicky hated it.

"I'm sorry kid. You know, business isn't good and I can't drag you along with it..."

_"Isn't Alex supposed to be helping you with that?"_

"Yeah, if you haven't noticed, she's a let down...Just...Just be good in there, alright kid? I'll grab you back when I'm done handling my shit...Ok?", Nicky sighed.

_"Ok...", _Nicky could tell Max's frowning right now.

"Ok...I care about you, kid. You know that..."

_"I know...By the way, tell Diane I hate her..."_

"I will...", Nicky chuckled and hang up. "She told me to tell you she hate you...", Nicky took a swig of her beer and mentioned to the blonde sitting next to her.

"Yeah...I love that kid...", Diane said turning look at Nicky. "So what now?"

Nicky shrugged avoiding looking at her. "I don't know. All I know is I can't lose Lorna again..."

"What the fuck Nicky! You told me you'll take care of me now!", Diane snapped.

"Yeah...this is me taking care of you..."

"No! This is you getting rid of me!"

"I—I can't have you...You know I'll always choose her over you...you're just a whore and you know that.", Nicky looked at Diane with her sorry eyes. Diane was silent for a moment, then she leaned a little at Nicky.

"Fuck you...and Alex. Fuck you for using me! Fuck you for giving me this fucking stretched marks! Fuck you for always choosing those fucking straight girls! Fuck you!", Diane said with rage written all over her face. She shoved Nicky before standing up from the stool. Then she turned to look at Nicky. "You will both regret that you sign me up with this shit. I swear it to your mom's grave...Oh wait...my bad, I forgot you don't have a mom! You son of a bitch!"

"Yeah? Alright...", Nicky turned to her beer. "It was so nice fucking you, mama...", Nicky let a sad chuckle escaped her lips. She looked at the bartender looking at her weirdly. "What!", Then he scooted away.

Nicky drank the beer and smashed the bottle on the table.

"Fuck you Vause!"


	6. Chapter 5 : Coke

Chapter 5

"Mhmmm...Alex...Baby...your hand...", Piper moaned feeling a hand on her thigh then felt movement in the comforter. "Babe...seriously...5 more minutes and I'll be ready for you...", another moan but no respond from the brunette beside her.

Then another movement and Piper felt the hand went up to her bare stomach.

"Mhmmm...", Piper continued to moan and started to protest when the hand moved away. Then she heard a chuckle. Not the low sexy chuckle that she used to hear. Piper snapped opened her eyes and gasped. "Shit!"

Piper held her breath for a second before rushing to check under the covers. Her eyes instantly went wide when saw the 'intruder' wearing that same disturbing smirk and...

...Alex's glasses.

"Good. You're obedient blondie...I can see you had a rough night..."

"WHAT THE—ALEX!"

Alex almost fell from the bed stricken by her wife's sudden scream.

"Wha...What...Shi...Shit! Pipes! What!", barely awake, Alex searched for her glasses on the bedside table but felt none. She searched for Piper next and held her. Alex looked around and when her gaze was greeted by a smirk from the other brunette who's sitting on their bed, her eyes doubled and she rushed to cover her exposed wife. "Pipes...wha...WHAT THE HELL! KID! GET THE FUCK OUT!"

Max laughed hard when Alex tried to grab her to snatch her glasses but failed.

"Give me my glasses you crackhead! I got shift today and I need those!", Alex frustratedly grabbed Max who jumped out the bed and stumbled on the floor.

"Haha! It must sucks to be old, huh Alex?", Max got up quickly while laughing and playing at Alex's glasses that sat on her nose.

Alex cursed under her breath and looked at the stunned Piper beside her. She returned her look to Max with a serious expression. "Seriously kid, the glasses", Alex held out her hand at the laughing Max who shook her head no.

"You want it? Go get it grandma...", Max skipped out of the room almost falling in the process due of the blurred vision but laughed anyway.

"What...What's happening?", couldn't comprehend the situation and the sudden mood change of the new teenager, Piper shook her head watching Max disappear to the door.

Alex reached out and kissed her temple. "I got this. Fucking kids these days! Never thought that kid was a morning person!", Alex growled and got out of the bed then grabbed her robe on the chair beside the bed not bothering to tie it properly.

"C'mon, Alex! How old are you?", Alex heard Max called from outside and ran fast when she heard Alex's footsteps.

"Seriously kid! You better return my glasses in one piece or I swear you're dead meat when I catch you—", Alex ran out of the room but stopped at the door when she heard the door across their room opened.

_Kid? _Piper thought.

"Hey...What's happe—Oh fucking shizball!", Andy's eyes went wide seeing a semi-naked Alex coming out of the room. "Alex! Could you tie your robe first before running around the hallway! Geez!", Alex rushed to properly tie her robe before following after the laughing brunette. It wasn't even 7 and the whole apartment was already in chaos.

"Sorry about that, Carol Chapman...", Andy rolled her eyes at Alex who walk briskly downstairs to bust out the head of the intruder.

Andy took a huge air, shaking her body to get the image of naked Alex out of her head then abruptly walked to her moms' room seeing a very stunned Piper. She looked at her weirdly before calling out for her.

"Mom!— "

"I was violated! Andy! I was violated!", Piper snapped looking at Andy mortified. Andy gave her mom a weird look when another scream was heard downstairs.

"MAX! SERIOUSLY! I WILL FUCKING KICK YOU OUT! GIVE ME BACK MY FUCKING GLASSES!"

Piper gasped and rushed to get out of bed. "Don't return the glasses!"

Andy's eyes went wide again now seeing her mom got out of bed naked.

"What the hell! MOM! Put your robe on!"

* * *

"Geez, Alex! You're no fun!", Max took off Alex's glasses and reached to put it on the latter. Alex stiffened at the touch and tried to grab the glasses from Max to put it on by herself but Max swatted her hand to do it. "Relax. I know how to put glasses on...", Max steady the glasses on Alex's nose and smiled proudly. "You do look bad ass with those glasses!", Alex raised her eyebrow at the comment and shook her head at the giddy Max. Smiling at the adorable chuckle of the brunette, Alex took off her glasses and put it on Max.

"Well, you don't look half bad in those, too...", Alex chuckled as Max faked a stern look and giggled then returned the glasses to Alex.

Alex walked to the kitchen counter and proceeded to make coffee. Alex pointed her finger at Max. "And no caffeine for you today, or probably for the next few days, kid...I don't want you hyperactive and shit, breaking in to our room and violating my wife again...She was stunned...Very, very shocked..."

"God! Yes! Her face! Have you seen her face, Alex! She's precious...", Max dreamily looked up the ceiling then exploded into laughing with Alex joining her. "Now I get it why you're so into her...she's entertaining...", laughter died down and Alex was aware of Max's eyes on her. Watching her.

"Oh you bet she's more than that...", Alex looked at Max and their eyes met for a moment.

Max smiled and walked to the fridge and got the milk carton. She closed the fridge and lifted the carton to her lips. Max continued to watch Alex. She grabbed the cinnamon and hazelnut and started to make Piper's coffee.

"Do you feel that, Alex?", Alex lifted her head to look at Max. She raised her eyebrow in question and Max smiled. "The connection..."

The moment was interrupted by the sound of someone coming. Alex swallowed the lumped that had formed in her throat and Max continued to drink her milk.

"I can see that she had returned the glasses...", Piper walked to the kitchen a little disappointed while finding the two at the opposite counters.

"Morning Pipes..."

"Good morning Pipes..."

The two brunettes said at the same time and immediately Alex snapped a look at Max who just shrugged. Piper raised her eyebrows while looking at both of them. She found the situation a little interesting and a lot weird.

"Don't call her that!", Alex pointed her finger at Max who widen her eyes and shrugged while drinking her milk. Alex rolled her eyes and gave Piper her coffee.

"Use a glass...", Piper pointed the glass beside Max on the counter.

"Yeah...I don't think so, the last time I touch a _glass,_ I almost got straddled...", Max scoffed while looking at Alex.

"You're overacting kid...", Alex chuckled and Piper looked at her.

"Oh yeah?"

"Oh yeah..."

Max chuckled and drank the last of the milk.

"Is everyone dressed? I'm coming in...", Andy called out slowly walking into the kitchen covering her eyes with her right hand. Max rolled her eyes and started walking out the kitchen.

"It's fine Andy...Nobody's naked...", Piper answered and took a sip from her cup. She smiled at Alex who smiled back.

"Jesus...Like you haven't seen anyone naked before...", Max mocked and pushed the milk carton to Andy's chest and walked out the kitchen.

"Shut up,** thing**!", Andy whipped her head to glare at Max who ignored her and walked upstairs.

Alex looked at the two teenagers and smiled to herself.

_They'll get along...eventually._

Piper stared at Alex the whole time, reading her actions. It seemed that Alex was a lot comfortable with Max like they had known each other for a long time. Alex seemed to be very welcoming, a lot more considerate, too kind and forgiving with the brunette. And she laughed more with her, considering the fact that Max had only stayed for the night and had already screwed up the house more than once. It bothered Piper that she felt like Alex seemed to be herself around Max and had to admit that it made her a little jealous. She had never felt jealousy for a long while now since Alex and her got married, and it annoyed Piper that she had to feel it because of some kid.

_Kid. _Piper's mind repeated.

It's an endearment that Piper only heard Alex use to her and Andy. Though she seemed like she wasn't affected by it, truth was, she cringed every time she heard Alex call Max by it. The endearment was something that had made her feel special to Alex and it just felt a little irritating to hear her call Max that.

"So...kid...", Piper heard Alex spoke and looked who she was referring to and relieved seeing Alex looking at Andy who was rummaging the fridge. "Wanna maybe, talk about last night?"

Andy stiffened and slowly closed the fridge and turned to her parents. Piper nudged Alex who gave her a serious look and took a sip at her coffee. Andy had the same worried, embarrassed and nervous expression she had last night. Piper stood to approach Andy to console her but Andy raised her hand to stop her.

"It's ok mom...", Andy sighed and slowly she sat at the counter seat. Both parents looked at her worried but didn't say anything. They let their daughter speak for herself. They thought it would be easier to just let her talk on her own and not push her. They both tried to look calm and comforting and gave Andy the chance to explain. "Look, I had this guy at school. And I don't know...it just happen too fast. We kissed, then there's this thing..."

"Spark?", Alex continued.

"Y-Yes...You could say that...", Andy quietly said avoiding to look at her parents, a little embarrassed.

"Is he cute?", Piper softly asked and Andy raised her head to look at her, then she sighed.

"Yes..."

Raising this kid for seventeen years had taught Alex and Piper much. Sometimes, she's kinda like Piper who would not think first and just say what comes out of her mind and act without thinking resulting for her to get in trouble most of the time, but sometimes, she's also kinda like Alex who would be straight up and honest but would stay quiet for awhile waiting for the right moment to speak. Both of them seemed proud to have passed down some traits to her but its kinda weird because those traits sort of contrast each other making their daughter a lot more complicated and really hard to understand. At first, it tested Alex's patience calling her '_foreign species',_ but as Andy grew older, she had learned to cope up with her. But Piper was the opposite. She had the most patience since the beginning which Alex didn't expect of her but find very endearing and sexy.

Hell, what did you expect of parenting? It would totally change anyone.

Alex and Piper looked at each other and smiled.

"Cute huh? That's good...", Piper smiled putting her elbows on the counter and resting her chin on her hands.

"So, how'd you met this cute guy that you bang in the toilet stall?", Alex pushed on which made Andy dropped her head and fidgeted on her seat. Piper nudged at Alex frowning at her. "Too soon?"

"No...No it's fine...I mean, you'll both have to meet him anyway so...", Andy trailed off.

"Ye...Yeah...", Alex answered unsure looking at Piper.

"Not now baby...Well, not until I fought this urged to punch him in the face...", Piper seriously said.

"Mom!"

"I know! I know! But this is just too soon, baby. And this is so unlike you...", Piper cringed at the words she said. She just sounded like her mother when she told her about Alex. Piper looked down remembering the moment.

* * *

_"__She's a drug dealer? Piper Elizabeth Chapman! You chained yourself with a drug dealer! Haven't you had any modesty in yourself? THIS IS SO UNLIKE YOU...", Piper gritted her teeth at the harsh words her mother just said. She's her mother for god's sake! She's not the one to judge her about her life's choices._

_"__Yes mother! And she also happens to be the woman that I love...", Piper retort through gritted teeth which made her mother leaned back a little pursing her lips thinly._

_Though her mother appeared to be calm and composed like she always did, Piper knew that she's mad and possibly sick inside which made Piper more upset with her. She couldn't even show her true emotions to her own daughter!_

_"__Jesus Christ, Piper. Are you listening to yourself? Love? A woman?"_

_"__Yes! And she loves me! She loves me that she had given up her rising career to be clean and search for me. Mom...This woman, she still loves me after what I've done to her...After I abandoned her in Paris right at the moment her mother died, after I pushed her away when she finally found me again, and after I threatened her that I will turn her over to the cops if ever she talked to me again. But she didn't stop. She pursued me. Mom, she had proved herself to me more than once and I didn't think after all this years that my love for her ever falter even a single ounce. Mom, I love this woman and I will marry her no matter what all of you say!", Piper said those words with full conviction that shut her mother's mouth and sat back on the couch across her._

_That had to be the most honest words that Piper had said to her family. She wasn't really sure where she got the strength to pull it out of her but after that conversation there's one thing she knew for sure: Alex Vause would always be the only person that she had paid attention to, she pays attention to and will pay attention to for as long as they both shall live. Everything else will just be background._

_Well not until Andy came. That moment, had been the most fulfilling moment in both of their lives. Until then, Piper swear that no matter what happened, she'll stay invested in both of her girls and she'll do anything to keep them safe and loved._

* * *

Piper pushed her thoughts aside when she felt Alex's hand on her arm. She looked at her concern filled eyes and felt sorry for a while. She turned to look at their daughter who had her head hung low staring at the orange juice she poured for herself in a glass sitting on the counter. Piper sighed and placed her hand on Alex's hand on her arm. Piper cleared her throat to speak.

"So, this guy...You really like him, don't you?", Piper started making Andy look at her. Andy smiled a little at her.

"Yes...", Andy honestly answered.

Piper was about to speak again when Alex beat her to it. She was a little surprised at her wife's sudden initiative to deal with the matter about Andy, but smiled nonetheless.

Alex would rarely initiate anything about their daughter. Usually, she would ask Piper about this and that before taking charge because she was afraid of messing something up, and it's kinda cute because it meant that Alex just wanted everything about their daughter to be as perfect as possible. But Piper wasn't sure of what to feel now that Alex was initiating of dealing with this issue about their daughter.

_Maybe she was just making up to Andy?_ Piper didn't know, but it somehow worries her.

"How about you invite him for dinner? Tomorrow night...", Alex calmly suggested. Andy looked at her unsure.

"I...I don't know if...", Andy quietly replied.

"C'mon kid. It'll be fine. Your mother and I just wanted to meet him. I mean, he obviously know more of you by now so, I bet it's only reasonable that we meet him as well, yeah?", Alex pushed on and Andy fidgeted on her seat uncomfortably.

"Hey, baby...what's wrong?", Piper asked concerned.

"Well, it'll be...you know, a little awkward...since, you know...", Andy quietly stammered.

"Jeez, like anything will be awkward with me...", Alex walked to Andy and put her hand on her daughter's shoulder to loosen up the tension. Andy looked up at her eyes and Alex smiled at her. "Hey, kid. Trust me, your _Romeo_ will come out of this apartment in one piece, I promise..."

Andy hesitated for a while but finally smiled. "Okay..."

"Fuck! Did I just walk in a shooting of a Netflix series? I swear to god, this family is so full of shit!", Max interrupted the moment throwing out a sarcastic comment when she walked in the kitchen while brushing her hair. "C'mon Alex...that's pep talk? You could do better...", Max sniggered.

"Jesus! I almost forgot that we're now raising douche", Piper returned the sarcasm and glared at Max who just smirked at her.

"Seriously Max? Do you need anything?", Alex turned to the brunette as well, as Andy brought her hand to her face.

"God! This is so embarrassing!", Andy mumbled on her hands covering her face.

"Jeez...Relax little miss messed up...It's just sex. I understand that it's your first time and it kinda hurts a little bit, but you'll enjoy it sooner or later...", Max winked at Andy who glared at her and she walked to the counter and grabbed a piece of bread then headed to the front door. "I'm up for school fellas, so...I'll see you later."

"Fuck this shithead...", Piper mumbled annoyingly and Alex glanced at her then turned to Max.

"Hey! Wai—Wai—Wait! You're up for school? It's only 6: 30!", Alex called out to Max but the brunette just waved her hand without bothering to look back.

"Yeah, I'm aware...", Max answered grabbing the knob of the front door. "I know how to go to school so, adios people...", Max said closing the door behind her.

Alex just shook her head and walked to grab her coffee beside Piper's.

"I'm just hoping that _that_ thing won't blabber anything at school! God! This is so messed up!", Andy stood from the stool and walked briskly to her room to get ready.

Piper looked at Alex who sighed heavily. She acted like everything's fine but Piper could see through it. Alex, something's bothering her and it haunted Piper to know.

"Just...tell me Alex...", Piper softly said. Alex glanced at her but lowered her gaze quickly avoiding Piper's questioning and hurt eyes.

"I will, Pipes. I will. Just...a little bit more time...", Alex replied and Piper nodded weakly.

* * *

"Hey, got my shit?"

"Yeah...Why'd do want it this early? Man! I barely woke up from my alarm!"

"Heh, sorry about that. Look, my lifestyle just change and I think I'll be on curfew for a while so I can't get this shit at night. But, thanks anyway..."

"Right. Just glad I'm still on service..."

Max smirked at the guy and walked to the corner eyeing the powdered stuff on a little zip lock bag. She smiled and flicked it a little when her foot caught on something and she stumbled on the ground.

"Hey! The fuck's wrong with you!", Max madly yelled at the person who tripped her over as she heard someone chuckled.

"Too captivated with those undervalue coke, are we?", Max heard a female spoke with a Spanish accent then she turned and saw a girl with a hard gothic make-up and outfit.

"No reason to trip me, fucking emo punk chica...", Max attempted to stand when she saw the girl offer her hand. Max swatted her hand and stood by herself.

"Nice...", the girl mocked but didn't look offended. Max rolled her eyes and turned to walk out of her when the girl called to her. "Hey, I'm Flaca, by the way...", Max stopped from her tracks and turned to look back at the Latina who had to have one of the most disturbing smirk she had ever seen.

But Max liked it.

* * *

**Author's Note: Yeah, I just added a Latina on the mix! Things will get messy soon so, be ready for that. Also, I would really appreciate any reviews and comments? Just want to know your reactions, if had any. hahaha. But anyway, thanks for reading this...I'm really really thankful. So, yeah...Cheers! :)**


	7. Chapter 6 : Intimate Apparel

**Longer chapter. Hoping this would answer some questions and would add up informations on where I'm heading. Hope you'll like it.**

**Reviews? I would like that. :)**

**Again thanks for the readers!**

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

Chapter 6

"Sneaky super cunt.", Polly sniggered shaking her head at Piper.

Polly then took a sip from her drink and proceeded to check her phone ignoring Piper's rant on what the hell was Alex hiding from her all this years. They're having lunch at a little restaurant a few blocks away from they're store and as soon as they got there, Piper started ranting about her wife's uncharacteristic behaviour last night and Polly got a little bored about it. Not that she didn't care at all, Polly was just used to Piper's overacting on stuffs and she assumed that this was just Piper's another misconception on her complicated and messed up other-half.

"Very! I mean, does she think I don't trust her enough? Or is she afraid that I'm gonna be mad of her or something? Or...Or leave her? I mean what the fuck! She just have to be honest with me...It's not like I'm going anywhere...I mean, look at this!", Piper raised her right hand and pointed at the gold ring on her finger. "Look at this! I'm practically married to her! I am! Not to mention that we have a daughter! A seventeen year old who in the moment is dealing with an issue that we have not yet deliberated clearly! And...And I love her. She knows that. So, what does she think she's gonna say that I won't accept?—"

"That is exactly the point, Piper! You love each other. So stop overreacting about this shit and deal with your daughter's issue first. Super cunt will talk if she feels like talking. I mean, at least that would buy you some time to prepare yourself if ever she is really hiding a fuckload of shit from you, right?", Polly cut her off, rummaging her bag for her lip gloss and compact. Talking to Piper was making her lips dry. "And that Max will be out of your apartment in probably a week anyway, just like the previous juvie you had."

"And that's the other thing! I don't think that _that_ kid will leave any sooner even though she's the asshole who started this whole mess!", Piper grunted.

_Kid._

Piper ducked her head on the table grunting louder. Polly sighed, rolling her eyes at Piper and proceeded to put on some lip gloss.

"And why is that?", Polly nonchalantly asked.

"Because apparent, they have this _thing..._", Piper raised her head and motioned her hands in front of her as if emphasizing something.

"Define _thing..._", Polly asked while focused on herself at the mirror of the compact she's holding in front of her face.

"I don't know. It's just that...Alex seems to...like her...", Piper frowned.

"Is that jealousy? Seriously, Piper?", Polly snickered putting down the compact for a moment and looked at Piper in disbelief. "And shut up! Super cunt always likes kids...", Polly teased and put the compact in front of her face again.

"Are you kidding me? She couldn't even stay in the same room as Andy without rolling her eyes at her!"

"And with Max?"

Piper frowned more, lowering her head a little bit. Polly looked at her bestfriend through the corner of her eye while her compact was still blocking her full view of her. "I don't know...She's...different...", Piper quietly answered, a bit upset at Alex's unfairness. Well, it's true though and she just realized it. Alex was different around Max than with Andy. It's so obvious! Maybe if Piper met Alex and Max someplace else, she would assume that they were related or something. And with Andy, Alex was this strict and sarcastic ass, but with Max, she was a little...softer?

Piper bit her bottom lip upset, then turned to the window beside her and stared at nothing in particular, lost in her thoughts. Polly put down the compact she's holding and looked at her bestfriend, suddenly concerned.

Usually, Piper would only rant about Alex's job, her working extra hours, or lacking bonding time with Andy and her, but today was a little different. Piper was bothered by a teenager Alex brought into their apartment. Not like Alex normally brought juvies in their apartment, it only happened once—Polly think, and Piper didn't react as such. If anything, she seemed excited the last time, but now, Piper looked like a high school girl jealous of some girl flirting with her crush and it's a rare sight to see a jealous Piper. Polly got instantly worried. Though she didn't exactly trust Piper's feelings, Polly could sense something's not quite right. There's more to the story and Alex was an ass for not saying anything. She could clearly see that Alex's actions were bothering Piper and she's hurt by it. It made Polly disappointed at Alex because she's doing this to Piper and making her wife suffer from the things she could be keeping from her. Polly sighed at the thought.

"What an asshole!", Polly commented and Piper looked at her. Polly smiled a little and took Piper's hand on the table. Piper looked at their hands and smiled back at her bestfriend, grateful for her comfort.

* * *

**_"I dumped her."_**

"You what?"

**_"I dumped her! I dumped the bitch!"_**

"Shit! Nicky!", Alex hissed. She's sitting on her desk typing on her computer.

**_"Yeah, Like I have a choice, Vause..."_**_, _Nicky groaned from the other line.

"I know, but...I just...We don't know what she's capable of...Diane, there's so much more to her, Nicky...She might go after my family, or in your case, your _business..._", Alex whispered the last part, turning away from her computer. She heard Nicky chuckled.

**_"Hmm...I think we both know exactly what she's capable of..."_**_, _Nicky said in a knowing tone.

Alex rolled her eyes as if Nicky could see her. _Unbelievable. _"Not _that_, you idiot!"

**_"What?", _**Nicky chuckled again. **_"You know it too that she could be an amazing lay...But I don't care about it anymore, I gotta focus on finding Lorna..."_**

Alex frowned instantly. She almost forgot that her friend was also going through a hard time right now as much as she was. Slowly, the guilt started coming back to her system and felt like she's going sick. She heard Nicky sighed reassuringly from the other line as if she could feel the guilt Alex was feeling.

"I mean, that bitch is crazy! Like, literally crazy! Like, who would agree to carry a baby for her ex-girlfriend who's desperately trying to have a baby with her wife? Fuck! And I'm not sacrificing anything over some crazy stupid psycho!"

**_"Yeah, like who would think of implanting a zygote to a surrogate without even telling her three-time miscarriage wife just so she could surprise her with a fucking baby...", _**Nicky said with humor but Alex didn't find it funny at all.

"Hey! Don't make fun of my misfortunes!", Alex snorted. "I think you mean, that's what happens when I decide to let my vindictive drug dealing junkie friend, handle my shit...", Alex smirked.

**_"Yeah, that's what you get for pissing me off, Vause..."_**, Nicky snickered.

"Right. And that's very mature of you, Nichols...", Alex sarcastically commented and sighed with a pause. "But seriously Nichols, I'm sorry for what happened between you and Lorna...", Alex then sincerely apologized.

**_"Now, you're talking about maturity? Seriously, Vause? And yeah, its fine, don't worry about it...And look, if you don't want Diane ruining your almost perfect suburban life, then you gotta tell your wife, ASAP."_**

"Yeah...I was planning on that...And I will tell her, I just have to deal with my daughter right now...", Alex sighed remembering the confrontation with Andy at the kitchen.

Alex's blood instantly boiled when she thought of the asshole who fucked her daughter in that dirty toilet cubicle in their fucking school. She knows that she promised Andy that she would be easy about this matter but fuck! Alex couldn't help herself but get mad every time she thought of the guy.

**_"Daughter? Who? Max? What did the fucker do this time?", _**Nicky sounded worried.

"No, not Max...It's Andy...", Alex said through gritted teeth.

**_"The little WASP? Yeah, and I'm not surprised...Glad she found the guts to fuck up, huh? Bad rebel gene truly runs in the family, am I right?", _**Nicky laughed a little.

"Yeah, unfortunately. You know what's ironic? It's that, she decided to give up her fucking virginity to some fucking asshole in a toilet cubicle in their goddamn school!", Alex was infuriated at the similarities of the scenarios.

**_"Shit, man! How familiar! If I remember it right, you once told me that Chapman did her first pussy in a toilet in one of that burlesque bar you always go to, am I right? Fuck, the coincidence. Always plays everyone...", _**Nicky was amused and laughed on the other end.

"God! You don't know how mad I was! But fuck! What am I supposed to do? I know my daughter fucked up, but, man! Piper and I are no better...I just feel like I'm failing in this whole parenting thing...Karma strikes back as hard...damn!", Alex felt the guilt doubled. Well, who else would be blamed at about Andy's actions? She's the parent. Ofcourse she'd take the blame.

**_"Yeah, well don't take it too hard, everyone fucked up...It's something that's bound to happen or else there would be no lessons learned...", _**Nicky wittily commented.

"I guess so...", Alex sighed. "Hey..."

**_"What now?"_**

"How did Piper knew how to contact you?", Alex asked seriously.

**_"You just figured that now?_**"**_, _**Nicky sniggered. **_"Man! Alex, now you know you're not the only one who's good at hiding things..."_**

"Yeah, apparently...So, how?", Alex asked impatient.

**_"Look, your wife tracked my number down from 17 years ago when she freaked out about your 'mood swings'. She found me in this diner with Diane, but that's it. I didn't introduced them to each other, nor tell your wife anything. Just...I asked her to keep her mouth shut and surprisingly, she did. But she insisted that we stayed contact, so I would inform her of my new digits every time I would change it..."_**, Nicky honestly replied.

"She tracked your number?", Alex was a little amused at Piper for a second. "She met Diane? Fuck, Nichols! And when exactly are you planning on telling me? Man! If I hadn't go through her phone last night!", Alex said a little annoyed.

**_"You go through her phone? Talk about trust issues!", _**Nicky heartily laughed in which Alex rolled her eyes. **_ "Relax, Vause. They just had a little glance at each other. I told Diane she's one of my ex...Yeah, and it's fun to play with the strings for a while...And just for the record, I didn't tell her anything, alright? You're secret is still safe for god's sake...",_** Nicky sarcastically said. **_"And I just like Chapman to think that she's making it fair for keeping something from you too..." _**

"That is ridiculous! You are sick, Nichols! Very sick!", Nicky laughed again at Alex. She could be entertaining and Nicky was really glad that Alex considered her _her_ bestfriend or else she's probably already the main target of her revenge or maybe probably dead by now. "I guess, now we're even, huh?"

**_"You trade the cartel, I got you in this mess, your shit cost me Lorna and I got Chapman kept a secret from you. Yeah, pretty even..."_**, Nicky chuckled.

Alex smirked at that. As long as Nicky didn't tell anything, it'd be fine. She just wanted to tell it to Piper herself and didn't want anyone telling her beforehand. It would only add up to the misunderstanding. Alex sighed and turned to her computer again. The program just finished running the information she requested. Alex stared at the screen then her eyes instantly doubled. "Fuck! Nicky! Since when did Diane got loaded?"

**_"What?"_**, Nicky asked suddenly confused.

"Diane! She got a fucking fortune in her account! How much money have you given her all this years?", Alex was beyond surprised. Diane, her crazy ex-girlfriend had suddenly become a filthy rich bitch in a fucking week.

**_"Well, not much...just enough to sustain her living..."_**, Nicky answered getting more confused at Alex's shocked reaction. **_"Aren't you supposed to be the one to know? I mean, you dated this bitch for what, three years?"_**

"Fuck! I should have seen this coming!", Alex was still staring at the digits on her screen computer.

It's just so unbelievable how Diane got this shitload of money. She didn't even have that much of connections. She's pretty sure that Diane didn't have so many friends either. All the people she had were either Alex's friends or Nicky's. Now that Diane didn't have neither of them, Alex could say she's most likely alone again.

When Alex met her at that bar in New York, Diane was just this broke country girl with no sense in living who ran away from her family after her religious associated father disowned her after telling him she's gay. She then lived four years in the streets of NY, alone, without anyone to turn to, until she met Alex. It's not like Alex pitied her so much that she decided to take her in, it's just that Diane looked much like Piper. She had blonde locks, a WASPy personality and those perky little boobs. Yes. After Piper left Alex, she weirdly gained a fetish for those kinds of boobs.

Alex held her lips, trying to hide her smile. She shouldn't be thinking Piper's boobs at situations like this! Damn!

_Focus! You pervert! _Alex momentarily kicked herself.

Then it hit Alex. Ofcourse! It's from her father! Where else could she get this money? Alex scoffed at how desperate Diane had became, turning back to her father that she swears she loathed pretty much her whole life for not accepting who she was. Her mother had died in delivery so it's just her father and her. Diane's father was not that influential though, but surely they earned much money from the huge hectares of land they owned. Alex wasn't sure how much money they make until now. But what Alex didn't understand was how come Diane's father, who right away renounced her to be her daughter and denied her from any resources the second she admitted that she was gay, had suddenly given Diane all her assets and properties? Though Diane was an only child, but come on! She ran away from house when she was like 15! How could he entrust a business to someone he hadn't seen for what, over 25 years?

"Fuck...", Alex cursed and went on to type on her computer. She pressed enter and gasped as soon as the information appeared on her screen. "Fuck!"

**_"Alex! What the fuck is wrong!",_** Nicky growled impatiently on the other line a lot more confused by now. Alex had almost forgotten that her friend was still on the phone and sighed.

"Robert Grant, Jr. Diane's father. He passed away recently, and Diane...She got all his money..."

* * *

"So where the fuck were you?"

Max instantly sent a glare at the blonde leaning on her door. She then rolled over to her bed and lay flatly on her stomach, grabbing a pillow and placing it on her head.

"Not talking...", Max mumbled on her pillow.

"Fine...I'll just have to tell Alex...", Andy crossed her arms in front of her and raised her chin stubbornly.

"Fucker...", Max hissed and turned to her back then glared at Andy again. "Why do you care?"

"Well, you live in this house now...and I should keep an eye on you...", Andy unbelievably reasoned, walking slowly to Max's bed.

"Right.", Max scoffed while sitting up on her bed. "I'm not a blabber...If that can help you sleep tonight...", Max deadpanned.

"Yeah, like you didn't blab anything to my mom..."

"Jeez! Shut up! Ok? Alex is your mother for god's sake, little blondie! Ofcourse, she deserves to know!", Max retorted.

"Look at you all, legitimate and shit...", Andy sarcastically commented.

"Jesus! Look, Alex just cares for you, you know...So why hide anything from her? She's your mother!", Max reasoned irritated at the stubborn blonde rolling her eyes.

"Why are you even defending her? And you talk like you know it all! Why, huh? Have you met her before? Did you even know her? Fuck! How long have you known her?", Andy growled at Max in which Max winced a little. Andy noted the little hesitant look that Max immediately hid by rolling her eyes. It made her questioned the brunette more. "So you've known my mom before?"

"None of you business...", Max moved to lay on her bed again. "Just...get out!"

"Fuck! You definitely met before! My mom should know about this shit..." Andy was wide eyed, a little eager to tell Piper about the little information she just found out.

Max cursed under her breath and sat back up again to stop the blonde from going out of the room. She raised her voice and growled at Andy.

"What? Are you planning on making it worse? You insensitive fuck! You know exactly that your parents are having a rough time now, right? And you're here planning on telling your other mom some stupid nonsense that Alex should be the one explaining about!"

"Well it's not fair that you can be telling my mom about my shit and I can't get to tell yours!", Andy walked back to stand beside Max's bed.

"Well it's not fair that you're taking away Alex's chance to explain!", Max shouted back at Andy was taken back. She opened her mouth to speak but just gritted her teeth instead.

"Why are you so concerned about my mom?", Andy asked too curious. Max bit her inner cheek and closed her eyes tightly.

"No...I'm not telling you! I'm not!", Max motioned again to lay on her bed and grabbed the comforter to cover herself.

Andy looked at Max's form on the bed with her huge questioning eyes and bit her bottom lip in frustration. Suddenly, she felt this strange feeling of jealousy with Max and she didn't know why. Maybe, it's because she felt that Max was somehow a person her mother was apparently closed with, or else Max wouldn't react this way. It angered Andy that her mom actually cared for this freaking punk who caught her fucking in a toilet than her own daughter.

_She's unfair!_ Andy clenched her fist.

"Fine!", Andy frustratedly snorted.

"Fine...So, are we done here?", Max looked at Andy like saying she wanted her out of her room now and Andy stamped her feet walking to the door.

Max watched her walked to the door when she suddenly remembered something. An evil smile suddenly appeared on her face.

"Hey! Princess!", Max mockingly called Andy. Andy rolled her eyes and turned to look at Max annoyingly. "I do have something for you, hold up!", Max raised a finger and moved to the side of her bed to reached under a pile of clothes in her opened luggage. Andy looked at Max confused when she suddenly snickered and pulled something from the bag. "Here!"

Andy instantly fumed seeing the familiar black cottony material that Max held out with her hand. Max looked satisfied with the blonde's look on her face as she ridiculously laughed.

* * *

_Max exhaled the smoke from her lungs and slowly leaned back on the toilet seat she sat on. She sighed satisfied and closed her eyes feeling light-headed. It's almost time for lunch and she knew that someone might budge in the comfort room any moment but she didn't care the less. Her body suddenly craved for some pot and she's not the one to protest about it. She raised the roll to her lips and inhaled slowly before disposing it to the toilet bowl._

_"Fuck! We surely have the spark...", Max chuckled feeling the high in her head. She decided to smoke one last roll before heading back to the classroom before the bell rang when the main door of the comfort room opened and instantly, she heard a girl talking. "Shit...", Max quietly cursed and tried to lift her feet on the toilet seat as quietly as she could, trying not to move too much. She held the unlighted pot in her hand and bit her bottom lip, a little nervous._

_ "H-Hey! Are you sure no one's in here?", Max heard the girl spoke._

_"Yeah...Positive.", then a guy spoke and Max heard some sounds like he's kissing her neck or something. _

**_Horny fuckers. _**_Max rolled her eyes._

_"Fuck! Kurt! Hmmm...D-Did you lock the door?", the girl moaned at the rough lips devouring her neck._

_"Y-Yeah...", Kurt (Max figured was the guy's name) murmured from what Max assumed was the girls neck._

_"J-Just...", she stuttered a little hesitant._

_"You know Andy, I told you we can do this at my place, right?", and the kissing stopped. Max figured the guy was fret or something._

**_Andy?_**_ Max repeated the girls name in her head. Then it hit her who the girl was. It's that blonde chick who acted like she's someone! _

_Max saw her from Gym Class, that one morning when their instructor had to merge all his three classes due to some crap teachers' guild assembly whatever that's happening in the afternoon. Max didn't even know the blonde, but Andy literally threw a ball at her just because she hated Max's cocky face. Max knew that she didn't had to take it personally because the girl was just a bitch trying to be funny but what angered her so much was the fact that this Andy looked almost the same as her unappreciative uncaring and selfish fucking mother. Max gritted her teeth._

**_What a fucking coincidence!_**

_"I...I...Fuck! Kurt! Do you want to do this or not?", that came out a little desperate._

_"Ofcourse babe!"_

**_Asshole. _**_Max scoffed quietly._

_"Then stop talking and fuck me!", much more desperate. _

_As much as Max wanted to laugh at the horrible foreplay she's hearing, she gotta admit that it's kind of interesting to stumble upon a sex encounter after an awesome smoke, and the fact that she knew who the girl was a bonus._

_"Well, I mean...I'm just...it's your first time babe. Don't you want it to be, you know, special?"_

**_Considerate. Hmm. _**_Max raised her eyebrow._

_"It's not my first time, you dumbass!", Max heard a smacking sound._

**_Violent. _**_Max got calmer now, intently listening from the stall. _

_"O...Okay babe. If you say so..."_

_"Yeah! Stop talking and hurry!"_

_"Ok...Ok babe...Let me...sat on this...", Max sensed the guy moved to the stall next to her locking it behind him. Max was in the last stall and was surprised they didn't actually checked if someone was in there, but glad that they didn't because she hadn't able to flush the toilet bowl she'd been sitting on and the roll was still in there._

**_Shit. I can't flush it now, yeah? These two are obviously getting it on now and I can't miss this opportunity! _** _Max grinned._

_"Fuck! Andy! I—I can't hold it in already!", his' super horny now._

**_How did they got this horny? Seriously?_**

_"C'mon!"_

_"O—Ok...", she's hesitant. Then Max heard a swift motion and looked down on the floor, seeing the guy's pants on the ground through the open space below every walls of the stalls._

_Max heard a loud gasped from Andy._

**_Yeah, she'd definitely done it before._**_ Max sarcastically thought._

_"Babe...You alright?", the guy was a little concerned. Andy was probably in shock or something. Well, she'd done it before right?_

**_Maybe, he didn't shave..._**

_"Yeah...Yeah, I'm fine...", Andy stammered._

_"Ok...C'mon, let me take those off..."_

_"M—My clothes? Why—Why'd you have to take these off?", Andy awkwardly questioned._

**_God! Seriously? Talk about awkward! That's a turn on! Ha! _**_Max bit her lip hard, trying not to laugh._

_"Because...Babe...We're having a...We're having sex...right?", Kurt asked confused._

_"Y—yeah...Oh...Yeah...", came the awkward reply._

_Max heard Andy gulped and figured that she must be taking off her clothes already. Max instantly saw the material on the floor almost invading her stall and anticipated what would happen next. She heard Andy took a step forward and audible smack of mouths were heard. Then came the panting, the loud moaning and hands landing on the walls of the stall._

_Max was shocked. It's really happening! They were really going to have sex in the dirty toilet cubicle!_

**_Fuck this girl! Oh, god._**

_"Fuck! I want your tits! Free 'em babe!"_

_"Why don't you do it?"_

**_Now she's sultry? Great!_**

_Max slowly raised her wrist to look at her watch. Ten minutes before the bell rang. Then she sighed._

**_Fuck! I need to get out of here!_**

_Max thought for a second but her pot stoned mind won't focus. She frustratedly sighed when a bra swiftly entered her stall by the space through the bottom of the wall making Max jolted in surprise._

_"Oh fuck!", Andy shrieked and Max heard Kurt hushed her._

**_This is not sexy at all! _**_Max got disappointed. Hearing Andy's excessive moaning, panting like she's hyperventilating or would lose breath any moment and her smashing on the wall was freaking Max's baked brains out._

_"Kurt! Faster!"_

_"Oh! God! Andyyyyy!"_

**_Fuck! I'm going to be sick! _**_Max thought and eyed the bra on the floor of her toilet stall. Leaned down further and she saw more discarded clothes on the floor within her reach. Max leaned back on her toilet seat and an evil smirked appeared on her face._

**_You're gonna pay for that ball, blondie..._**

_"I'm coming!", one last pumped and Andy was sent to her first orgasm. She tried to catch her breathing and held on Kurt's shoulders for support. "Shit! That was..."_

_"Loud...", Kurt chuckled._

_"Yeah..."_

_Then suddenly, they heard a toilet flushing._

_"Fuck! Babe! What's that!", Andy panicked._

_"Shit!", Kurt tried to get Andy to stand and searched for his clothes on the floor when they heard the stall on the left opened with someone running._

_"Oh shit shit shit!", Andy held on the wall of the stall still having trouble to stand as Kurt threw his shirt and boxer shorts on him and put his varsity jacket on Andy's naked form. He went out as fast as he could, closing the stall door behind him and tried to catch the exiting intruder but all he saw was dark-brown hair, tight black pants and checkered long sleeve shirt before she closed the door of the comfort room._

_"Jesus Christ! Kurt! Where's my clothes!"_

_And that's how Andy ended up with her boyfriend's varsity jacket and his oversized jogging pants with nothing beneath on that day for school._

* * *

"Hey..."

"Hey...", Alex greeted her wife at the kitchen preparing dinner. She swiftly snaked her arms around her waist from behind and kissed her exposed shoulder. "How's your day, babe?"

"Fine...", Piper smiled at the little gesture. Her smile would automatically appear every time Alex tried to be sweet no matter how bothered she was. "How 'bout you? You're home early..."

"Yeah, not much to do...", Alex smirked. "Besides you..."

Piper bit her bottom lip trying to hide her grin. Alex sensed it and started to pepper her wife's neck with light sweet kisses.

"Yeah?", came Piper's low reply. "So what are you thinking for dessert?"

"Me on bed with my naked, hot and gorgeous wife for toppings...", Alex whispered in Piper's ear, with her low and sexy voice. Piper raised her eyebrows at that. She got a little suspicious at what's happening.

First, Alex came home extra early. Second, she immediately looked for her when she opened the front door and didn't head straight to their room to change. And lastly, she's giving her too much attention right after she got home and didn't normally bitch about her stressing work for once.

It's not like Piper didn't want it. It's just that it's a little weird for her right now.

"Ok...So I gotta hurry up then...", Piper replied uneasy. Alex leaned back a little at the tone and crossed her eyebrows at that.

"Pipes..."

"I'm fine...Let me just...finish this...", Piper moved to free herself from Alex's arms around her waist. She grabbed a lettuce on the counter and continued to prepare the salad. Alex looked at her worriedly and sighed.

"Fine...", Alex stepped back a little. "Can we...talk..."

Piper raised her head and nervously turned her head to look at her wife. Alex avoided her eyes as soon as Piper looked at her. She turned and sat on the stool by the counter and motioned for Piper to sit down when a loud growled echoed through the whole apartment.

"YOU FUCKING GODDAMN IMMORAL DISGUSTING BITCH!"

Piper shut her eyes and thinned her lips, annoyed.

_Fucking interruptions!_

"Shit! What's that!", Alex sprawled in action and headed to the rooms.

Piper followed suit after rolling her eyes and they were met with a fuming Andy holding a black laced bra and Max on the bed laughing hard. Alex eyed the material and raised her eyebrow in question while Piper clenched her fist, frustrated.

"What the fuck is happening here!", Piper yelled furiously.

Andy looked at her parents suddenly frantic and stormed out the room immediately. Alex looked at her exiting daughter confusedly and turned to look at a still laughing Max.

"Slutty intimate apparel, am I right?", Max commented in between her laughter and leaned back on her bed to calm herself.

Piper growled frustratedly and stormed out the room stomping her feet. Alex shook her head and walked to Max's bed.

"Kid, seriously. What's that?", she asked a little bothered at Max's laughing state.

"A little prank I played with your daughter...", Max grinned widely looking at a displeased Alex.


	8. Chapter 7 : Little Affairs

**School's a bitch right now. Need to pass a bunch of paper works, so. Anyway, new chapter! Glad you're still reading this story. I'll be posting the next chapter in probably two to three days? Not sure. But this semester's ending so I got more time to write. :)**

**So, now. On with the new chap. It's a little character development. I hope you'll like it.**

**Cheers!**

* * *

Chapter 7

"_Come with me..."_

Those three words _she _said. Those three words that made Max utterly incapable of speaking or even thinking before she let herself be dragged to the unknown. Those three words that made Max now grinned like an idiot on the dining table oblivious of the three pairs of eyes staring at her. Well, the two pairs were actually glaring at her. Max then unconsciously bit her lip which sent a wrong impression at the two indignant blondes making their glares intensify more. If only glares could burn holes, Max would most probably sport a pair now.

Alex sighed at that. She didn't know though why Max was suddenly acting like a complete retard now, grinning from ear to ear. Max doesn't normally glow unless something interests her.

_Interest her? _Curiosity instantly kicked into Alex's guts. She noted to ask Max later.

And to sum it up, dinner was nothing but awkward, at least for Alex.

Max got two fuming blondes glaring at her but she didn't care the less. She just gladly munched the food Piper made. Alex looked at her wife. She just stabbed the poor steak with her fork. Then Alex turned to her blonde daughter. Andy chewed on her food like a grinding machine. Alex sighed again and looked down at her own plate.

So much for a fun family dinner Alex hoped to have.

Alex sighed again clearing her throat this time and waved for the other brunette at the end of the table.

"Kid! Try the salad! It's good! Pipes made it...", Alex almost stammered.

Max raised her eyebrow looking at Alex. "Yeah? I can see that no one's touching it. How do I know there's no poison in there?", Max poked a look at Piper.

Piper snapped a look at Max from her plate looking offended. Then she scoffed. "I should've put poison in there...", Piper sneered.

Alex sighed and took Piper's hand on the table making her wife look at her with the same glare she's giving Max. Alex was a little taken back and loosened her hold on her hand then she turned to Max.

"Don't be ridiculous kid...", Alex scolded.

Max snickered at that when Andy stood, grabbing her plate.

"I'll be in my room.", Andy coldly called.

Piper waved off Alex's hand that's still holding her and followed Andy to the kitchen to dispose her own plate. Alex eyes followed the two and sighed again. She looked at Max finding her looking at her, now with a serious expression. Max kept her eyes on her then she opened her mouth to speak when the two doors closing echoed from upstairs.

"Look Alex. I'm sorry all right?", Max averted her look suddenly embarrassed.

Alex was slightly surprised at that.

_Now she's embarrassed? What's up with this kid?_

Max didn't normally apologize for her wrong doings. Alex's look on Max suddenly softened but kept her serious face, not wanting to give away the fact that she actually found an embarrass Max so adorable.

Earlier that evening, Max told her about the prank and the ball-hitting-face incident. Alex got mad ofcourse. First she scolded Andy for being mean and disrespectful for throwing a ball at Max's face, and obviously, Piper defended Andy but Alex snapped at her. Alex was surprised that she did snap at her wife, but she stood her ground, because no matter how you looked at it, what Andy did was wrong. Then Piper snapped back at her for again taking Max's side, so Alex made it fair and scolded Max too but Piper wasn't satisfied saying that she scolded Max lightly, and she walked away to prepare the table instead. Alex just shook her head at that. Sometimes, she felt like she's raising another teenager in the house, but she couldn't blame her wife. Max was an 'intruder' but still she seemed like she's siding her. Alex bit her tongue.

_I'm too obvious._

Alex heard Max sighed when she didn't get any reaction from her after she apologized. She slightly bit her bottom lip and tried to look at Alex but couldn't. Then came an honest statement.

"She just...Your daughter...and your wife...they looked like Diane...", Max honestly said.

Alex blinked her eyes a few times, a little taken back.

_So that's what is bothering her. But what's with the grin?_ Alex thought.

Alex was aware how Max didn't like Diane. Diane wasn't really what you could call a mother. Yes, she would feed her, put a roof under her head and kept her warm through the cold winter nights, but it seemed like after all these years, still, Diane didn't develop any affection towards Max. She only did those because it's her _job, _in which she got Nicky paying her to do it. For 17 years, Diane pretended as Max's mother while Alex introduced herself to Max as Diane's childhood friend and Nicky lately became Diane's acting girlfriend and Max's other mom.

Though Alex would often times visit and bond with Max in Diane's apartment, still she didn't like the idea that her daughter was living with her ex-girlfriend but she couldn't think of any other person to take care of Max while growing up. Nicky was always away so she couldn't entrust her daughter to her. She couldn't let her Aunt to do it either because she wasn't sure she could answer any more questions that might be asked to her. Many times she would think to just bring Max home with her but every time she would see Piper holding or looking at Andy (like she's the only precious being in the entire world), Alex would always back out from the idea and would get instantly scared and guilty. It made Alex realized how she only trusted a few people and how small her world had became. It only proved how fucked up she truly was.

Now, Alex wanted to kick herself for letting her daughter grew up in an uncaring and suffocating environment.

"I'm sorry...", Alex heard Max shyly spoke again. Alex smiled a little looking at her adorable daughter.

_No more backing out this time._

"But if you like...I'll just apologize to your daughter...", Max unbelievably suggested looking down at her plate making Alex cocked her eyebrows teasing her daughter more by not uttering a word.

"Seriously?", Alex playfully said.

Then Max immediately raised her head huffing.

"I mean, not directly! Mushpot!", Max looked away a little embarrassed.

Alex smirked at that. Somehow, her daughter resembled her and it made her heart flutter. Though Max only got her 'emotion incapable jerk' attitude, still Alex always felt proud at herself for not aborting this kid. Alex shook her head smiling.

_How come Piper couldn't find you adorable?_

Then Alex realized that Max only acted like this when she's with her or with Nicky. They were the only people she trusted her true feelings with. Alex's smile grew bigger.

_Damn! Inherited even my trust issues!_

"Right, kid...", Alex smirked playfully.

"Jeez! Alex! Stop with the teasing!", Max whined then sighed looking at Alex seriously. "But seriously. We'll get even, ok?. Your daughter and I, we'll get even...I promise..."

"Just don't get in trouble kid...", Alex reminded.

Max suddenly smirked. "Oh you know me Alex. My whole life is trouble..."

* * *

Max helped Alex with the dishes. She didn't thought that Max was a dishwasher kind a gal and she enjoyed washing dishes saying, 'Washing the dirty plates is like washing my mind from thoughts I'm too scared to think'. Alex never thought that her daughter would say that or even think that simple things had that huge meaning for her. It made Alex kinda sad. Clearly, there's a ton of things she didn't know about her daughter, but luckily, they have the time now to know each other.

After cleaning up the kitchen, Alex walked Max to her room. She told her good night and went to her own room to face her wife. Walking to their room, Alex remembered she had not yet ask Max about the _grinning_, but go against it and continued to walk to their room. She needed to talk to Piper first. Alex almost forgot that she still have to talk to her. Max had her forgot about that for a minute, but now, the guilt was back and Alex could feel it through her heavy footsteps.

_She'll understand it. _Alex reassured herself when she reached the door to their room.

Alex opened the door and slowly let herself in. She closed it behind her and glanced at the blonde lying on the bed. Alex wet her lips. Suddenly, her whole mouth was dry. Then she slowly walked to her side of the bed. She dipped her knee on the soft mattress and leaned in to look at her wife.

_She's fast asleep. _Alex sighed a little disappointed. She decided that she would just let her exhausted wife take her rest tonight and to do the talking tomorrow.

Alex took off her glasses and gently placed it on the bedside. She slowly motioned to lie beside her wife, putting the comforter just beneath their waist. She snaked her arms around Piper's waist pulling her closer to her and settled on her side.

"I love you Pipes. Don't ever forget that...", Alex whispered sadly, then she closed her eyes letting sleep to take over.

Moments later, Piper opened her eyes. She felt Alex's steady breathing on her back. She leaned back closer to her, snuggling closer to Alex. She gently placed her hand on the arm around her waist. Piper then bit her lip, hiding a sob.

"I love you too Alex, but you are hurting me...", Piper whispered back sadly. "And I think; now I already know the reason..."

* * *

**_EmoPunkChica: _**_Now you're helping her? What a shitty way to handle a WASP._

**Max: **What do you think I should do then? :l

**_EmoPunkChica: _**_I don't know. Let her be? I mean, why bother? Not like you care for her and all..._

**Max: **But I promised Alex... :/

**_EmoPunkChica: _**_So? Big deal. _

**Max: **You won't understand...

**_EmoPunkChica: _**_Help me understand then. Talk to me..._

Max sighed reading the text message. She put down her phone and sunk deeper on her bed. Why was she even talking to this girl? She didn't even know her a bit. They just met this morning after she tripped her feet making her stumble to the ground. If anything, she should be mad at her, right? She tripped her!

_But that smirk..._Max closed her eyes.

That smirk that made Max felt this urge to let this girl drag her to some abandoned warehouse not far away from her supplier's place. The place wasn't creepy. It was decent really. There was a room at the far side inside the warehouse where Max figured _Flaca_ was staying. There was a mattress with two huge white pillows on a huge crane in the middle of the room. A huge crafty couch by the graffiti covered wall, a table across the couch and a light bulb hanging by the ceiling. There's also a guitar by the bed and huge speakers and a radio. Then at the corner of the room was a small kitchen, complete with utensils and appliances and even a mini dining table. Above the sink, there was a wine rack filled with rum, vodka and tequila bottles and hanging wine glasses. Finally, there was a door at the kitchen, Flaca mentioned that it was the bathroom, in case Max needed to pee. Max tried to hide it but she think Flaca sensed how surprised she was. But seriously! Who would have thought someone's living in this cozy little room inside a freaking abandoned warehouse? Max was instantly hooked at the sight before her. That right there was a space she will surely live at.

And Max wasn't just hooked at the place, Flaca seemed to be an interesting girl as well. She's funny, a little dark, but all in all she had this vibe to her that Max liked. They had talked for hours and hours about nonsense, drank a few bottles of beer and smoked pot, but Max never been that high since she learn how to do shit. Everytime she would looked at Flaca, that smirked would instantly appear on her face and every damn time Max would see it, she would feel the high getting more intense. But then again, they just met so Max didn't want to deal with this weird sensation whatever. And she didn't even know who Flaca really is, but somehow she felt safe and comfortable under her gaze.

Max bit her lip. She lifted her phone and deliberated what she should reply to the Latina. She sighed again then typed away a reply.

**Max: **Good night, emo punk chica.

* * *

Andy sighed staring at the ceiling for a while now since she went to her room after her walk-out scene at dinner. She was so affected by Alex scolding her. It's been a while since her mother last scolded her. Usually when there's conflict, Alex would just sit her down and would tend to talk to her calmly. But this time, she yelled at her. She even snapped at Piper. Alex was always calm and she would always try not to raise her voice at Piper, but this time, she did. They even argued about Max and why Alex would always take her side. It's unbelievable how her mom suddenly changed entirely within a span of a day. It's unacceptable how she treated the 'intruder'.

Andy sighed loudly grabbing her pillow beside her head. She put it on her face and growled frustrated. She was so mad right now that she couldn't even think of sleeping even it's almost 2 AM in the morning. She just laid there with a pillow on her face when she remembered something.

"Fuck! I haven't told Kurt!", Andy hurried to grab her phone on the bedside and dialled her boyfriend's number. "Please be awake...", it rang a few times and Andy almost gave up when Kurt finally picked up at the last ring.

**_"_****_Hey babe...",_** his voice didn't sound sleepy at all. Andy guessed he must still been online. Her boyfriend's a sucker for social media. **_"It's 2 in the morning, why are you still up?"_**

"Actually I'm 'bout to ask the same question...", Andy smiled a little, she knew Kurt was smiling as well. "I couldn't sleep..."

**_"_****_Then stop thinking about me...", _**Kurt playfully quipped making Andy chuckled. Her boyfriend could always lighten up her mood.

"Then stop being so adorable!", Andy played along.

**_"_****_I can't, it's the only thing you like about me..."_**

"Oh no, I also happened to like your toned abs...", Andy smiled at her attempt at flirting in which Kurt huskily chuckled.

**_"_****_Phone sex at two in the morning? I hope you're ready for that..."_**, Kurt's voice was raspy and Andy tried hard to subject. She had better reason for this call.

"As much as I would love to do that with you right now, I think I better get started on the reason behind this call...", Andy tried to make that sound serious but Kurt laughed it off.

**_"_****_You just sounded like my mother but I'm weirdly turned on right now..."_**

"Ok, stop it Kurt...", Andy took a huge air and calmed herself. She needed her most convincing approach to get her boyfriend to say 'yes' at what she's about the ask him. "Listen babe. I've been meaning to ask you this personally at school but I got distracted at finding a certain dark-haired asshole instead.", Andy gritted her teeth, instantly annoyed at the 'intruder'. "And that'd been said. This certain dark-haired asshole decided that it's justifiable to tell my parents that I had sex in a public toilet in our goddamn school and now _my oh so_ concerned _mom_ suggested that they should meet you since you've obviously knew me better than she do...", Andy flinched remembering Alex's words. "So now...", Andy sighed nervously. "I'm asking you if...you're...if you're free tonight? 'Cos you know, we're probably having my mom's awesome meatball spaghetti?", Andy crossed her fingers at that. Kurt wasn't saying anything, he was all silence and Andy was now freaking out a little. She couldn't blame him. Ofcourse he'd be shocked! Meeting his girlfriend's parents was probably the last thing Kurt imagined to get out from this call.

Then suddenly, the line was dead. All Andy could hear was the beeping of the machine.

* * *

Max walked passed Andy's door to go downstairs and grabbed some milk before going back to sleep again, when she heard the blonde talking. _Probably on the phone_, Max thinks. The blonde sounded displeased and stressed on the line. That made Max stopped and eavesdropped for a while. She was suddenly intrigued when she heard a sob from the other side of the door, so Max quietly leaned on to the door to hear the blonde clearly.

* * *

Andy couldn't believe it. Kurt fucking hung up on her. He actually hung up on her!

Andy shot up from her bed stunned at the pussy reaction her boyfriend just gave her and deliberated if she should call again. She went on it and dialled his number shaking. She put her phone to her ear and waited for him to pick up. Three more attempts and finally he picked up.

"What the hell was that Kurt?", Andy grunted irritated. "I understand that your shock but do you have to hang up on me?"

**_"_****_Fuck! Sorry babe. I needed time to hear it through my mind. Did...you just...asked me to...or my ears are fucking with me? 'Cos you know...my senses are not in their best at two in the morning...",_** Kurt stammered obviously nervous and panicked at the moment. Andy rolled her eyes. He's unbelievable.

"Jesus Kurt, I just asked you to come over for dinner to meet my parents, it's not like I'm asking you to take responsibility of my pregnancy!"

**_"_****_What the—you're pregnant?"_**

"Oh fucking you joke! I'm not pregnant! It's a fucking rhetorical statement!"

**_"_****_Then don't do that! It's freaking me out!"_**, Kurt was a mess and Andy didn't think for a second that he would act like this. It's just a dinner! What could possibly go wrong?

"Ha...I can't believe you!", Andy stood from her bed and put her hand on her head, frustrated at her boyfriend. "Where are your balls when you needed it?"

**_"_****_No! Andy! I won't do it! I won't meet your parents! Most especially your cop mom!", _**Kurt actually sounded scared at the other line.

Yes, Andy was aware of her mom's reputation as a badass heartless detective who stopped numerous drug trafficking in the state. She would often times make it on the news and Andy was very sure people were afraid of her mom that's why only a few brave soul would choose to mess with her in school making her instant Alpha female status. Andy was proud at that for a while but a got little fed up lately because guys would be afraid to date her knowing her mom's status.

Alex was like a sniffing dog who could smell bullshit from a mile and they couldn't risk it. And that's the reason why Andy got easily drawn to Kurt when he asked her out. He was the first guy to do that and Andy got so excited. But now, after all this bullshit freaking out parade, Andy wasn't so sure Kurt was sincere at all.

"Seriously Kurt? You fucked me in a toilet stall! You did! And now you're afraid 'bout my mom knowing about you? You should've thought about that all the way through!", Andy lost it. She was so disappointed at Kurt right now. He couldn't be a little more worse.

**_"_****_You're mom can detect bullshit!", _**Kurt blurted out and gulped when he realized what he just said.

"What?", Andy was taken back.

**_"_****_Nothing...scrap that! It's nothing...", _**Kurt was stuttering now.

"No...What did you just said? What's 'bout it that's bullshit? Kurt! What do you mean by that!", Andy was the one freaking out now.

**_"_****_Babe...please, I can't...I can't talk right now...Just...Ok, tomorrow...meet me at our tree...we'll talk about it there...", _**Kurt tried to persuade Andy to leave the conversation now but Andy wasn't backing down. She wasn't sure what Kurt meant by that but she knew it wasn't good.

Andy sighed slowly closing her eyes in sheer frustration and tightened her hold on her phone.

"You. Are. An. Asshole.", Andy stressed out each word with pure dismay and threw her phone on the bed. She raised her hands to her face and collapsed on her bed feeling defeated.

Now, how was she supposed to tell her parents that she got played by a moron and gave up her most precious virginity for nothing? Surely, Alex would be mad at that, most especially at Kurt but no matter what an asshole Kurt was, Andy still didn't want her mom hulking out at her boyfriend.

Ofcourse Andy didn't want that. She likes Kurt. She cares for Kurt. And she understands how Kurt must have been feeling right now, but what Andy didn't understand was why he said that this was bullshit. Truly, that's what he's been trying to say right? That this was bullshit. But why couldn't Andy feel mad at him?

One reason: That guy surely fucked her over. No pun intended.

* * *

Max smiled from the other side of the door. She heard everything Andy said and she picked up all the information. The guy's a dickhead, that's so obvious. And Max had to admit, she somehow enjoyed Andy getting screwed over. It felt so rewarding so Max smiled at that.

"I can't wait to see what Alex will do to this jerk...", Max quietly sniggered. Then something popped out her brilliant mind. "Shit, what a great opportunity.", Max smirked. "We'll get even blondie...And I can't believe I'll get involve in your little affairs..."

* * *

**Author's Note: So what you guy's think? Voice it out. I really wanted to know if I should continue or not. _Pretty pleaseeee... _**


	9. Chapter 8 : Pinot Grigio

**A little late. So I apologize about that. This us a quick light chapter before all the drama break loose.**

**Thanks again for reading!**

**I'll update soon!**

**:)**

* * *

Chapter 8

Piper woke up to the hand caressing her cheek. She slowly opened her eyes and was greeted by the most amazing green orbs she had ever seen.

It's all magic.

Just like magic, all her worries, doubt, all the hurt...it all vanished; lost in the abyss of her wife's deep captivating gaze.

Then she watched her; watched every movement of those enchanting sight. Watched how she memorized every little lines of her face. Every breathe she released, every blink of her eyes. It felt gratifying. It's satisfying, really. That after all these years, Alex still looked at her this way.

Piper watched her.

Alex slowly moved her hand from her cheek to the line of her jaw. She traced it gently intently focus on it. Piper lightly bit her bottom lip and watched Alex slowly lifted her gaze to her eyes, like looking through her soul. Then she moved her hand away from her face and her lips slightly quivered. Piper immediately held her wife's hand before she could put it down.

"Babe...", Piper worriedly whispered. Alex looked at her.

"Babe...I'm sorry...", Alex sadly whispered back.

Piper held Alex hand tighter, not wanting to let go. She kept her eyes on her wife. Kept her mind on her, focusing on her. Alex gripped her hand tighter.

They stayed there. Silent. Waiting for the other to speak. Not wanting to let go.

"You know...", Alex suddenly spoke. "I wake up every morning looking at the ceiling, thinking about the things I want to do with my life...", Alex paused. Piper remained silent, looking at her. "You see, I didn't find myself in this career, or even travelling the world. I didn't see myself at a bar drinking my liver out or by the beach in Tahiti doing x. I didn't even see myself in Paris, or Cambodia or any place else..."

Piper didn't know what to say. She didn't know why Alex was suddenly saying these things, but she let her to keep going. She figured, she's probably going to say the thing she wanted to know.

Alex moved closer to her. Closer, if that's even possible at their current proximity.

"Every time I think of these, I got scared.", a quiet sob. Piper squeezed her hand for comfort. "Suddenly, I don't know what to do with my life anymore. It's like, I'm in this dark hole that I created myself and I didn't know how to get through it.", A quick sob escaped her lips and Piper held onto her tighter.

"Then, I will turn to my side and I will find you...", Piper's gaze softened at that. Alex would always say the right words to make her heart flutter. "I will see you peacefully sleeping beside me. You always look so carefree, so calm, almost surreal. So loving...It makes me want to punch myself to death...You don't deserve any of this. I don't deserve you...", Alex bit her lip and Piper moved to hold her shaking wife.

"Baby...Baby please...don't say that...Shhh...", Piper hushed Alex, caressing her dark-brown locks. Slowly, her wife's breaking down, in front of her. Breaking down at the reason she hadn't even known.

"'Cos you see, everything I do, everywhere this stupid mind take me, every fucked up scenarios I could make up...I always seemed to end up on this bed; on this same bed, sleeping next to you.", a pause. "I don't want anything more than to wake up next to you...I don't want any other thing, babe..."

Piper kissed her; kissed her softly but with certainty. No hesitation. No doubt. Just pure and deep affection; because that right there was Alex's closest words to 'I love you and I couldn't live without you'.

"Piper...Babe...please...I just want to wake up next to you...I just want to see you everytime I open my eyes. I want to see you staring back at me...I don't want to be any place else...", Alex broke down. Piper couldn't take it. Seeing her wife like this shatter her heart.

"You will...You will babe...You will always see me...You will always have me...", Piper kissed her forehead and held her tighter. She rested her forehead against her and intently looked at her wife in the eyes, reassuringly.

"Keep your promise...", Alex looked at her. Scared.

* * *

"Wow...Nice make-up...", Max made a teasing remark when she saw Andy walked in the kitchen where she's currently drinking her new made black coffee.

"Are you mocking me?", Andy retorted, stopping just in front of the fridge looking at Max.

"Sorry, I just thought you used some of those eye busting eyeliners to accentuate your swelling eyes...", Max sniggered, raising her cup to her lips.

Andy's eyes got wide like she'd been caught doing something embarrassing. "I'm not crying!"

"Who says something about crying?", Andy glared at the brunette, wanting to rip that sickening smirk off her face.

Andy rolled her eyes, opening the fridge to get some orange juice. She grabbed a glass, poured herself some of the drink and sat across from the brunette at the kitchen counter.

"Black? Seriously?", she scoffed looking at the cup of drink Max was drinking.

"Orange juice? Seriously?", Max mocked raising her eyebrows mockingly at the blonde.

"At least it's normal, for my age...", Andy stubbornly raised her chin, lifting the glass of orange juice to her lips.

"Yeah, for a good health nazi that you are...", Max smirked.

"Am not!"

"Well, obviously. Those dark circles under your eyes say otherwise..."

Andy raised her hand and touched her fingers under her eyes. Surely, it felt like its swelling. Now, she regretted crying earlier. It would definitely take her much effort to cover it up.

Max looked at Andy's stressed face. The blonde looked like shit to say the least. Obviously, she didn't get enough sleep and probably crying until the wee hours of the morning. Max smirked remembering her eavesdropping from the blonde's door.

"I'm kinda excited for tonight's dinner...", Max feigned excitement.

"Save your smart-ass comments to yourself...He's not probably coming...", Andy disappointedly replied eyeing her glass of orange juice.

Max smirked at that. _You just wait, blondie..._

"I mean, I'm excited...'Cos you know...We'll probably having Alex's meatball spaghetti...", Max gave Andy one last glance before standing up from the stool, grabbing her cup and disposing it to the sink.

Andy was still staring at her drink, barely catching what Max just said. When she heard the brunette walking to the front door grabbing her backpack on the couch, her mind finally comprehended what Max said. Then it hit her, and Andy's eyes instantly got wide.

"What the—", Andy snapped her look at the exiting Max when the front door shut.

* * *

"I need your help at something..."

**_"_****_Depends on the catch...", _**Max rolled her eyes at the Latina's playful reply.

"C'mon! It won't require you to use all your stored up energy!", Max sarcastically said, walking out of the vicinity of the apartment. She saw Alex's truck parked at the side street and she smiled to herself.

**_"_****_Sounds boring..."_**

"Jeez...Just...get me some muscles and...hey! Can I borrow a few bucks?"

**_"_****_Money? At this early point in our relationship, you're already asking for money? Bold." _**Flaca sniggered.

"Relationship? Glad you can make jokes...", Max bit her lip at that half-joke.

**_"_****_I aim to please..."_**

"Right...So where do we meet?", Max said a little eager to see the Latina.

**_"_****_How'd you know I got money, anyway?", _**the question got a little suspicious tone.

"Scientific-wild-ass guess..."

* * *

"You sure about that?"

"Yeah...I mean, when she said those words...God! You can't even imagine how much willpower I have to withdraw, so I won't jump on her right in there!", Piper shook her head smiling, remembering the little sweet moment earlier. "The moment would have been ruined."

"No, I'm sure that's what she's aiming for...", Polly smirked at her knowingly.

Piper, getting the hint, widened her eyes at Polly, grinning from ear to ear. Polly rolled her eyes halting her cart full of all organic products, grabbing a can of tomato sauce from the stand and proceeding to inspect it for nutritional benefits.

"You know, she probably just wanted you to have the trouble of this grocery trip...", Polly mindlessly commented, putting the tomato sauce on Piper's cart.

"She uses fresh tomatoes...", Piper stopped Polly on putting the product on her cart. Polly shrugged, returning it to the stand. "And well, you know, I don't mind...If she'll be all that sweet...", Piper giddily said.

"Seriously? Are you in high school?", Polly unbelievably looked at her bestfriend and Piper just chuckled.

They pushed their carts until they reached the liquor section. Polly stopped, looking back at Piper.

"Just...yesterday, you're this fucking mess ranting about your wife's secretive nature and now you're like this giddy high school girl who just scored with her crush? Jeez...Lesbians...", Piper ignored her bestfriend's comment and check on the wines in the stack. She eyed every bottle, deciding what would be best fit for their dinner tonight.

"Well, at least I'm at ease...I needed it if I'm going face to face at the asshole who fucked my daughter...", Piper quietly commented, eyes still on the bottles.

"No...I think, you'll probably gonna need this...", Polly reached for a super strong tequila and handed it to Piper.

"Yeah...and that too...", Piper sighed dramatically.

_"__Why are we in this fucking grocery store?"_

_"__I need a wine..."_

Piper's ears perked up at the familiar husky voice from someone walking from behind. She wasn't so sure if her assumption was right, but she definitely heard that voice before. She heard two persons stopped just behind her and out of curiosity, she turned her head to look at them. Piper's eyes widened when she came face to face with the brunette she least expected to see in this place, not to mention during school hours.

"Oh, shit!", the brunette cursed under her breath and took a step back, obviously surprised to see her as well.

"What are you—", Piper didn't even finished her sentence when Max—grabbing the hand of the goth girl she's with, hurriedly walked out of the scene. "Oh, that fucking—", Piper was shock at the reaction as she stood still on her spot contemplating whether to follow the brunette and question her or just continue her grocery like she didn't see anything.

She hadn't seen Max since last night 'cos she was out again early in the morning. Actually, Piper was thankful for that, seeing Max would only ruin her perfect mood this morning. And that was proven by this unexpected encounter, in the exact grocery store she was in. That definitely turned her mood upside down.

"What was that all about? Who's that girl?", Polly questioned, confused at the reaction happening before her.

"That fucking prick!", Piper gritted her teeth in frustration. "It's the 'intruder', Polly! It's the fucking intruder!"

"That was her?", Polly glanced at the trail where Max went. "Doesn't she suppose to be at school?"

"Apparently not!"

"Oooohhh...Trouble...", Polly cooed, grabbing the tequila bottle Piper was gripping tightly. "Should obviously take this...", she said putting the bottle on Piper's cart.

"Fuck! I hate Alex!", Piper snarled, strolling her cart angrily.

Polly chuckled in disbelief, shaking her head. "Lesbians are insane..."

* * *

Time flies. School was out. Now, Max was waiting on this alley not far away from the school's premises with Flaca by her side. She was still bothered by the unexpected encounter with Piper at the grocery store but she stepped it aside, focusing on the more important matter at hand.

Mission: Getting Andy's fucking boyfriend to go to dinner. (Or kidnapping him if the situation called for it)

She wasn't certain if the confrontation at their _tree_ worked out but she assumed it didn't, based on Andy's hideous level-up bitching at gym class where Max decided to check up on her this afternoon; so she went on with the plan.

Actually, Max was relieve she wasn't in that exact gym class with Andy or she have to endure the amount of broken bones she'd probably going to have from the harshly thrown out balls on their dodge ball game. Max felt a little sorry for the other girls at that class.

"Is that him?", Flaca queried for the nth time now, eyeing every guy who cross her sight. At first, Max found Flaca's excitement a little cute, but it got annoying later.

Max bit her tongue, avoiding herself from snapping at Flaca. It'd be ungrateful after all the effort Flaca had put into this impromptu mission. Max decided to just ignored her excited tone and looked at the guy Flaca was eyeing.

_The moron!_

"That's him! Pablo! Jack! Grab him!", Max motioned for the two bulky guys behind her.

"It's John, actually...", the huge black-American quietly corrected her.

"Ok? John...", Max stepped aside looking at the man weirdly, before widening her eyes at Flaca. "God! Sensitive much?", Max mouthed at Flaca who chuckled.

Max and Flaca watched the two guys lifted Kurt effortlessly, taking him to the alley where they were. Kurt looked scared and attempted to run away but seeing his effort was useless to the huge men. Max laughed heartily at the pathetic sight she's witnessing. He's like a fucking baby.

"What the fuck man! What did I do! What did I do!", Kurt wailed trying to free himself from the grip of the two men. Max stepped out of the makeshift hiding place behind a huge dumpster and made herself visible to Kurt. She noticed Kurt gasped seeing her.

_Oh, a fucking cry baby..._

"W—W—What—W—W—Who the fuck are you?", Kurt stuttered looking at Max.

"You need to come with me...", Max coolly said.

"What the hell! I—I don't even know you!", Kurt shifted from the tight hold of the two men.

_So Andy didn't tell him about the 'intruder'._

"Put him down boys...", Max smugly scratched her temple, raising her eyebrow in the process. She glanced at Flaca who's looking at her with that satisfying smirk, making her continue.

When Kurt was put down, he immediately tried to escape but the two men instantly blocked his way. Max laughed at that.

"C'mon. That's useless...", Max laughed. "Ok...I'll ask you nicely...and the second time, is not going to be nice...", Kurt hesitantly looked at her. Max was suddenly grateful of her high-ass intimidating demeanour.

"W—What do you want from me?", Kurt stuttered again, avoiding to look at her.

Max grabbed the handed bottle of wine from Flaca and gave it to Kurt. Kurt eyed the bottle weirdly and looked at Max confused.

"Are you fucking kidding me?", Kurt exclaimed as the two men stepped closer to him. He immediately backed down.

Max chuckled at the reaction.

_He's such a pussy. Surprised, he had the guts to fuck Andy at that disgusting toilet cubicle._

"Take that wine and go with Andy to dinner..."

Kurt gulped hearing her words. Max raised her head, now towering the 5'10 high school jock.

* * *

Andy forcefully chopped the ingredients for dinner. She hadn't told her parents that preparing this would be useless since the person reasonable for this make-up event would probably not come. Andy cringed at that, tightening her grip on the knife. She's too mad right now to even speak a word.

Alex sensed her intense daughter and thoughtfully glanced at her. She sighed and grabbed the knife, Andy's holding. She protested for a while but eventually gave the knife to her mom. Alex continued with the task and motioned for Andy to just boil the water for the pasta.

Alex tried her best to make it extra early to have time to prepare for this dinner that she hoped would clear out the awful air between her daughter and her. She thought that going on with Andy's decisions and understanding it would eventually led her a foot to her daughter's closed door, so she didn't expect this reaction from her, if anything, she expected her to be excited or probably a little nervous, but not angry.

Alex frowned. What else does she have to do?

"Mom...please...this is useless...", Andy dropped the pot she's pouring water with on the sink.

Alex instantly looked at her daughter, hurt.

"Andy...", she gently looked at her.

Andy avoided her eyes and turned to the sink. Alex was still.

"I know what you're doing...And I'm touch, really...'Cos finally, you're paying attention to me...but...look...", Andy paused, gripping on the edge of the sink. "Kurt...he's— "

_Ding~!_

"He's punctual...", Alex commented.

The sound of the door bell echoed through the apartment, halting Andy from speaking further. She turned around, looked passed Alex and heard Piper called from the stairs as the door bell rang repeatedly.

"I'll get it!", Piper sounded excited and Alex had to sigh in relief.

_At least, she's in the good mood._

Alex motioned for Andy to follow her to the living room to see who's at the front door. Andy weakly followed, a little hesitant. They saw Piper grabbing the knob, smiling genuinely. She opened the door and Alex had to chuckle at the adorable disappointed reaction her wife made when she saw Max coming in.

"God! What took you so long!", Max gnarled irritated, walking briskly inside.

"Oh for the love of god!", Piper rolled her eyes, gritting her teeth.

Alex bit her lip, trying not to laugh at the display. She sensed her blonde daughter fidgeting uncontrollably beside her. She looked at her from the side of her eyes, when she heard Max called from the kitchen.

"God! It smells so fucking delicious in here, Alex!", Alex shook her head, when Max popped her head out from the kitchen. "Hey, princess!", Max looked at Andy. "I bumped into an asshole coming here...", Max smirked, then looked at the front door.

Andy's eyes widened when she heard her mom gasped at the door. Both Alex and Andy looked at the guy Piper welcomed with a smile. Her jaw instantly dropped, surprised at the unexpected sight.

Kurt was there. Kurt fucking came. He fucking came!

Andy smiled relieved, looking at her boyfriend who's smiling shyly at everyone. Then their eyes met and he smiled at him widely. Andy couldn't be any happier. He's there. Smiling at her. Smiling at her in sincere apology.

Alex raised her eyebrow, looking at her daughter and the guy at the door. Suddenly, she smiled a little. Her daughter's elated. Genuinely happy. That made her happy as well.

_It's the beginning._

Alex turned to look at Max. The brunette winked at her and disappeared to the kitchen. She shook her head and turned to look at the guy. He respectfully nodded at her, when he suddenly jerked.

"Ah...Yeah...", Kurt took out the bottle of wine he'd been hiding from his back and offered it to no one in particular. "Pinot Grigio?"

Promptly, Max's booming laughter sounded from the kitchen at Kurt's attempt on pronouncing the wine's name as Piper snapped a suspicious look to the kitchen.

Alex raised her eyebrow in confusion.

_OK?_

* * *

Dinner's not as awkward as Alex expected it to be. Kurt seemed to be very respectful but awfully nervous the whole time and Andy would occasionally look at him comfortingly that would seem to calm him instantly. Piper was surprisingly welcoming and pleased at Kurt's well-mannered attitude so Alex was thankful that, except for the occasional glaring of her wife at Max who devoured her plate of food like a starving hippo.

But all in all, Alex was surprised that she remained civil after all. Not throwing even a single mocking and sarcastic remark at Andy's boyfriend. She remained calm and cool while talking to him and it seemed to satisfy her daughter, smiling the whole time. She figured it's better than to judge the guy. She just made it clear that what happened at the toilet cubicle would be the first and the last _fucking_ encounter until they reached the right age. In which Kurt sincerely apologized first then reassured her that it won't happen again.

After dinner, Alex let Andy walked Kurt out of their apartment and she proceeded to clean up the kitchen. Max insisted to help her but she waved her off telling her that she'd done enough. The brunette proudly smiled at that knowing that Alex probably had a clue at what she'd done, so she just walked to her room smiling contently.

Alex smiled to herself, continuing with the dishes when a pair of familiar arms surrounded her waist. She moulded closer to the body pressed on the back and sighed contently.

"You looked incredibly sexy acting all considerate...", she felt Piper's breath on her neck.

"Suprised me too...", she chuckled.

"Glad he's not a complete asshole. He's actually kinda sweet and well-mannered..."

"Well-mannered is good...", Alex nodded her head. She washed her soap-covered hands when she felt Piper tightened her arms around her. She wiped her hands with the cloth by the sink and turned to look at her wife.

Her eyes. Serious.

Alex bit her inner cheek. She knew exactly where this was heading. Piper spoke.

"Now that the entire ruckus about this fucking incident died down..."

Alex nodded her head, following up. She bit her bottom lip, a little hesitant. She held her wife's face and looked at her intently.

"We'll talk...", Alex reassured her wife. "We'll talk...Just...Just keep your promise..."

Piper nodded her head and kissed her wife. Sealing her promise.

* * *

**Author's Note: Reactions? Comments? Reviews are highly encouraged. Thanks for reading :)**


	10. Chapter 9 : Undercover

**Sorry it took awhile. Anyway, new chapter! :)**

* * *

Chapter 9

"Just wait for me in our room...", Alex told her wife as calmly as she could compose though her eyes gave away how scared she's right now. Piper's directly looking her in the eyes so she turned away.

_She couldn't see how much this bothered me. _

Piper hesitated for a moment but nodded her head eventually. She slowly walked out of the kitchen leaving Alex in her own head.

Though Piper's soothing caress on her face would urge her to speak, Alex thought she needed a little more time to herself. She needed to figure out how to tell her. Seventeen years and yet she hadn't composed a coherent speech on how to tell her and it's just so not like her. This was so not like her. Lost for words, scared, shaking.

This is not Alex Vause.

Alex Vause. She's the blunt, straightforward and obnoxious woman. She usually knows what to say in all situations. Usually figures out how to deal with anything in whatever conditions. But now, all of a sudden, she's lost for words. Scared. So out of character. So not like her.

Her gripped on the edge of the sink tightened. The curling up in her stomach tensed more.

_What the fuck did she do to deserve this? What the fuck am I thinking to decide for this?_

She didn't know how long was she standing in the kitchen. She lost sense of time, but she knew she had her wife wait for too long now. She waited long enough. Seventeen fucking years was long enough.

Alex sighed one last time, shaking. She raised her head looking up at the ceiling.

_It's now or never, Vause. It's now or never._

* * *

On the bed, staring up the ceiling—that's how she found Piper in their room. She seemed lost in her own thoughts as well. Lost in the scenarios she could make up. Alex gulped when her wife slowly turned to look at her. She smiled a little motioning for her to lie in bed beside her. Alex sighed shortly, gently walking to her wife, closing the door behind her. She moved under the comforter turning to her side to face her wife. Their eyes instantly met and Alex unconsciously bit her quivering bottom lip.

"Promise me...Just promise me...You're gonna hear me out...You're gonna let me explain...", Piper looked at her directly in the eyes slightly smiling. After all this years, all the rehearsed lines, the built-up courage, all of it—gone. It's gone before those comforting blue eyes.

_I can't do this. I can't fucking do this! It'll break her! It'll break her!_

The turmoil in her stomach got more and more intolerable every second she stared at her wife's sad, confused and worried blue eyes looking directly at her. It's over-powering. It's too much. It's sickening even. Alex averted her eyes to the ceiling. Apparently, the ceiling was a better view than her wife's eyes in the moment. She couldn't stomach telling the truth to her wife's face. She just couldn't.

_How am I supposed to tell her I had a kid with my fucking ex-girlfriend, which basically is not my idea, but my fucking selfish vindictive drug-dealing asshole of a friend?! But! Fuck! Why did I make this choice to myself!? Why did I—_

"Babe...", Piper's gentle touch brought her back to earth and eased her rising emotions a little. She slowly turned her head, seeing her gulped with eagerness written all over her gorgeous face. "Say it...", Piper's breath rolled to her face. It's a mixture of sweet...

...but with strong hint of alcohol.

_Has she been..._

"Pipes, have you been—"

"Shut it! You're here to answer, not to ask questions...", Piper stopped her, holding her face for her look at her.

"But...", Alex got more hesitant now.

_She's using alcohol. She's using alcohol to deal with this? _

"I needed it to deal with the fucker at dinner...Sorry, I just felt like I needed it..."

"Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yes...I'm all ears...Go on babe...", Piper urged her but now she's uncertain.

_What the hell?_

"Pipes...I don't know if I can—"

"Don't you dare bail on me now, Alex!"

"But Pipes...you're—"

"Are you kidding me? Alex! Are you fucking kidding me now?"

"N-No, but...I needed you to focus...But look at you, you're drunk!"

"I'm not! What the fuck! Why is it so hard for you to say what you've been hiding? Have you killed?", Piper gasped sitting up from the bed. "Are you fucking dealing again? Alex! Are you fucking dealing again?"

"What—Pipes! No!", Alex sat right up as well.

_I wish I was just dealing again. It'll be so much easier to tell than this._

"You know—See? This is why I don't want to tell you now! You're raging already!"

"You don't know how fucking stress out I had been since I saw that text message in your phone 17 fucking years ago! And how I almost fucking lost my sanity when I found out you've been contacting Nicky all this time! So tell me Alex! I wanna hear you tell me straight to my face! Are you dealing again?"

Alex clenched her fist, closing her eyes.

_What the fuck is she saying right now? This is not how I imagined this conversation to be like! Why the fuck am I going back to dealing again? I'm a fucking detective for god's sake!_

"Alex!", Piper grabbed both her arms shaking her roughly. She shook her head opening her eyes, seriously. "Tell me! Fuck it—"

"I have a kid!"

"What?"

"I have a fucking kid, Pipes...I-It's Max..."

"What the—? Is this a joke?"

Alex hung her head down, avoiding her wife's shattered face.

Piper looked at her. Frozen.

_No turning back now._

Piper loosened her hold on Alex's arms and slowly brought her hands to her side but let her eyes focused on her. No reaction. Blank stare. Slow breathing. She stayed like that for about a minute, but it felt like an agonizing hour for Alex. The silence, it's more unbearable than the rage and angry yelling. It's more deafening than the screaming and harsh accusations. Alex couldn't take it. It's painful.

"Pipes...", Alex tried to reach for Piper but she turned her face from her touch.

"Get out.", it's barely audible. Venomous.

"Piper please...Let me explain..."

"I said get out.", her voice, so cold, so distant.

Alex flinched hearing that. She couldn't even move from her spot. She stayed still, looking at her wife's face turned from her.

"Pipes, I'm sorry...I don't mean to—"

"What do you want Alex? You want me to hulk out on you! You want me to hit you! Ok FINE!"

"Pipes! What the fuck! Let me explain!", Alex quickly stood up from the floor where she landed face-first when Piper forcefully pushed her after her most awaited but rather rushed confession.

"Get out."

"Pipes! Please! Letme—", Alex was cut off by a pillow harshly thrown on her face. "Piper! Seriously?", she incredulously looked at her raging wife, angrily pointing at the door.

"GET THE FUCK OUT ALEX! GOD! I CAN'T FUCKING BELIEVE YOU DID THIS!", Piper growled wailing her arms angrily standing up from their bed.

"Well, I can't fucking believe you too!", Alex snapped back, getting frustrated at her wife's childish reaction. "Just let me explain! Jesus! Just here me out!", Alex tried to calm her wife, slowly reaching for her.

Another thrown pillow.

_That's it! Fuck alcohol!_

"GET OUT!"

"Fine! You want this! Alright! Fine! Suit yourself! Remind me never to talk to you about this ever again!", Alex grabbed the pillow on the floor and roughly walked to the door. She grabbed the knob tightly, gritting her teeth in frustration.

_Why can't she just listen to me first? Fuck!_

Alex deliberately turned the knob and sighed, suddenly turning back to look at Piper again with the most apologetic face she could pull off but then again, she was met with another soft white material forcefully thrown at her.

_How many fucking pillows do we have? God! I'm done for tonight!_

* * *

Alex slammed the door, frustrated, cursing under her breath. She briskly turned and found two pairs of questioning eyes looking at her.

_Totally forgot I'm a parent._

"What was that about?", Andy hesitantly asked.

"Rough start?", Max remarked, a little concerned.

"Nothing! Go back to your rooms!", Alex ordered, holding the white pillow in her hand tightly.

"Alex?", Max eyed the pillow, then Alex snapped at both of them.

"Go to your fucking rooms!", her voice strict and autocratic even.

Both teenagers flinched, looking at her. She didn't step back. She looked at them seriously, almost glaring, as both girls slowly made their ways to their respective room.

"Aaaaaargghhh!", Alex growled stressfully before briskly walking down to the couch.

* * *

It's where Max found her pacing back and forth in the little living room. She looked at the other brunette slowly walking to her, offering a cold bottle of dark beer. She raised her eyebrow, eyeing the offered drink then lifted her gaze at the brunette, unsure if she's going to smile or frown at her.

"Didn't I tell you to go to your fucking room!", she immediately regretted her angry tone when Max flinched.

"Yeah...I heard. You weren't exactly discreet...", Max looked down on her from the corner of her eye. She slowly put down her arm that's offering the drink but Alex beat her to it, swiftly grabbing the bottle from her and taking a swig.

Alex took the bottle with her and sank on the couch, looking at nowhere. Max just looked at her, taking a swig at her own bottle. She contemplated to sit beside Alex but went with it, sitting in a reasonably far distance from her.

"So...what's the deal with your wife? You're kinda loud back there", Max quietly asked.

Alex sighed taking another swig from her beer. She cleared her throat and took in a huge air to calm herself. She looked at Max waiting for her to put down her beer.

"So you heard...", Alex quietly replied.

"Are you normally like that? 'Cos if you are...I totally don't blame Andy for being a bitch...", Max whispered the last part, raising the bottle to her lips.

Alex overheard her, instantly looking at her daughter at the other side of the couch. "Now you're lecturing me on my parenting?"

"N-No...I mean, yeah...Listen, Alex. Diane may be a total asshole, but she never yelled at me, hell, did I saw her and mom fighting...at least, I can say they didn't argue, but if they are, they put in a down low...'Cos you know how kids with yelling parents ended up..."

Alex cringed at that.

"We don't normally fight. It just something...that came out tonight...", Alex sighed lifting the bottle to her lips.

"Why?", Max leaned back a little. "Sorry, I don't mean to pry..."

Alex looked at her fidgeting daughter. She looked concern and curious, but mostly concerned. It's something she didn't normally show to anyone. Alex smiled a little. At least she had someone who listened.

_My daughter. _Alex felt a little calm now.

"Wanna hear something weird?", Max raised her eyebrows at that question asked to her. She slowly nodded her head unsure where this conversation was heading.

Alex bit her tongue and momentarily tilted her head, looking away from her daughter's questioning look. She then exhaled a huge amount of air from her lungs and looked at Max seriously.

_You should know. _

"You're my kid...You're my daughter..."

Silence. A terribly long silence again. Max looked taken back staring at her like she just said the most impossible thing ever. Then Alex slowly lifted her arm and reached for her daughter, when Max leaned away.

"Are you fucking with me?", Max tried to laugh it off but it came weak.

Alex averted her gaze and sighed.

"Are you fucking kidding me Alex?"

_Nice. How did I expect her to react? Ofcourse she'll be mortified!_

"I wish I was...", Alex looked at Max sincerely.

"Fuck!", Max looked at her then scoffed looking at the ceiling.

"I know, I'm an asshole..."

Max unbelievably looked at her. She tightened her grip on the bottle she's holding and breathed heavily. Alex gulped, staring directly at her daughter's bewildered and intense gaze.

"So this is what you're arguing about?", Max quietly spoke as Alex averted her eyes and played with her bottle of beer. She's lost for words. Her mouth was dry.

Max stood from the couch and turned her back on her. Alex stayed glued on the couch, unable to think of anything at the moment. She already fucked up everything tonight. Max turned a little, just enough to look at her. The look she's giving Alex was something she never seen before. It's a mixture of resentfulness, sadness and longing. Alex bit her bottom lip. The look on her daughter's face, it's agonizing, too painful.

_What are you doing Alex! What the fuck are you doing? _Alex momentarily kicked herself when Max suddenly spoke.

"Now you need a lecture in parenting..."

Then she was gone. Max walked out on her. Just like that, two persons she deeply cared about pushed her away. Just like that, she felt alone.

_Well, it's a complete valid reaction._

Alex sadly chuckled.

"You're a selfish self-centered fucker. You did it, Alex! What an awesome confession...", a quiet sob.

_I need to talk to someone, immediately or else I'm going to lose my fucking mind. Nicky!_

How ironic. After all the twist and turn, she'll go back to the beginning of all this shit.

_Nicky._

Then it hit her. Her phone. She forgot her fucking phone in the room.

* * *

"Where the fuck in 'GET OUT' you didn't understand!", Piper instantly yelled at her when she opened the door.

"My...My phone...I just...", she stopped when she saw a bottle of half-empty liquid on the floor by the bed. "Ah, Pipes...seriously, enough with the tequila already!", she averted her eyes to her wife then she was met by a flying phone. Thankful for her amazing reflex, Alex sighed in relief at the miraculous catch.

"NOW GET OUT!"

* * *

"Nicky where are you? Can we talk? Ok...meet you at the bar...", Alex hung up and sighed looking at the steps of the stairs. She clenched her fist and turned on her heels, walking slowly to the front door.

* * *

**_"_****_Did you let her explain?"_**

"Pol! I don't need a fucking explanation! She clearly cheated on me!"

**_"_****_By what exactly?"_**

"That kid! Max! She's Alex's daughter! She Alex's fucking daughter!", Piper waved her arms in the air frustrated, as if emphasizing her point to her best friend on the phone. After downing half a bottle of tequila without a fucking lemon or even salt, she already felt the alcohol in her veins and it intensify her anger even more.

**_"_****_And where will the cheating enter?"_**

Piper rolled her eyes. She didn't need Polly's intuition now. She needed her best friend siding her. "Ofcourse she cheated on me! She did! How can she have a fucking daughter anyway?"

**_"_****_Exactly my point...You didn't know Pipes...", _**Polly sighed from the other line.

_This is unbelievable!_

Piper walked to the bed and leaned down to grab the bottle of tequila on the floor. "B-But! Jesus Pol! Are you siding her?"

**_"_****_No...just stating the obvious.",_** a pause. **_"Now, did you let her explain?"_**

"Again Pol, I don't need a fucking explanation! She already made a fool out of me all this years! I don't need any more shit to put the pieces together!", she gulped at the burning liquid in her throat.

**_"_****_And you're here jumping on conclusions again...Pipes, super cunt might be a fucking arrogant and irritating bitch...but she got reasons in everything she does. She won't do anything for nothing and you know her...",_** a sigh. **_"Piper, this is so stupid of you..."_**

"B-But, Pol...How...How can she have a child? How does this happen?", Piper slowly sat down on the bed. She lifted the bottle to her lips again and took a swig.

**_"_****_You will never know that unless you ask her...Piper! This is the fucking confession you've been crazy to hear about, and you decided to just yell at her and fucking pushed her to the floor!"_**

"I cannot think straight..."

**_"_****_Then stop drinking! You asshole!"_**

Piper crossed her eyebrows questioningly and looked at the bottle in her hand. "How the fuck have you known about that?"

**_"_****_Shut up! Just go to her...Let her explain. Well, it's not like your wife can fuck a bitch and got her pregnant, yeah? Clearly, there's a story behind all of this..."_**

"I know Pol...I'm just...I'm just scared..."

Piper put down the bottle on the bedside. She stared at it for a moment while listening at her best friend's steady breathing on the other line. Polly was right. What she did wasn't the right thing to do. She overreacted again. She didn't let Alex explain her side. Instead she pushed her, threw pillows at her, and yelled at her.

_Why the fuck did I do that? _

Yes, Piper's mad. She was shocked at first, but after comprehending what Alex said, all she could think of was she cheated on her. That Alex had another woman and she decided to get her pregnant because Piper couldn't fucking give her a child. Seventeen years ago, Alex must had gotten tired of her miscarriages and got frustrated so she looked for replacement. She couldn't fucking give her a child so she looked for another woman who can. And she'd been hiding this from her. Maybe Alex had planned to leave her if she hadn't had Andy. Maybe she had leaved her if it wasn't for Andy. And all the coming home late, all the week-long undercover and sudden seminars across the country, Alex must have been using all these as an excuse to spend time with her '_family'. _To be with her other _family_.

Now she wanted to rub it to Piper's face and brought home Max.

All these thought. These assumptions. All the things her fucking brain could make up. The alcohol. The anger. It became too much, that's why Piper did what she did. She pushed her wife away. Literally even. She knew it's not what she should've done, but it became too hard to act discerning if these images of her wife on some woman's bed with a fucking baby in their middle would flash in her mind. It's sickening. It's heartbreaking.

**_"_****_But you love her..."_**, was Polly's reply. **_"You love her so you'll hear her out..."_**

"I'm scared Pol...", a sob finally escaped from her mouth.

She had been fighting the urge to cry but she just couldn't hold it in anymore. It's true. She's afraid. Afraid that she might be right. That Alex would say all the thoughts she'd been thinking about. That she might lose her.

**_"_****_Idiot...", _**Polly scoffed from the other line.

That's all she needed to hear. That's just about everything. Piper thanked Polly and hung up abruptly, rushing to the door of the room. She got out, walking briskly downstairs. She went directly to the living room, expecting her curling up on the couch. She stopped on her tracks. The room was dark if not for the lights on the street. She saw a half-empty bottle of beer on the coffee table. The white pillow was on the couch. She could still see her weight on the couch, but she's not there. Alex was not there.

_She's gone._

* * *

_"__Please babe, don't leave now...I couldn't deal with the baby alone..."_

_"__I'm sorry Pipes...this bust. This is a huge bust and a huge break for my career...I needed to be there..."_

_Piper looked at her wife sadly while holding their three-month old daughter in her arms. Alex was in the closet grabbing clothes for a week-long undercover. She's rushing, stressed out and just threw anything she could reach on her carry-on. She didn't seem like her usual self. She seemed so much in a hurry to leave. _

_That caused suspicion creep in to Piper's inside._

_Piper frowned noticing the material Alex grabbed from the drawer._

_"__Babe...those are my thongs..."_

_"__Oh fuck...yeah...sorry, sorry...", Alex chuckled awkwardly, placing the thongs back to the drawer._

_Piper stood still, eyeing Alex's every moved. She bit her bottom lip. She didn't like what she's feeling right now._

_"__Babe...where exactly are you going?", she asked slowly._

_"__I can't tell...the details are confidential, Pipes. You know that...", Alex answered without even looking at her._

_"__Just...in general...", Piper pushed on._

_"__Pipes...", Alex finally halted, now looking directly at her. She sighed, walking to her, leaning down to plant a sweet kiss on their daughter's head then finally her eyes were back on Piper. "I'll be back next Tuesday, I promise..."_

_Piper's lips twitched. She just couldn't bring herself to trust those words. She could feel something's up. She could see the inner dilemma through her wife's eyes though she's trying to hood it behind her perfect eyelashes._

_But yet, Piper nodded her head. Alex smiled a little. A weak smile. A worried and bothered smile. She gave her a smile as well as Alex continued with the task. _

_She'd still wait for her. Of course, she would wait for Alex._

_"__Ok...I'm all set up...", Alex zipped her bag. She hung it to her shoulder and walked to Piper to kiss her good bye._

_"__Wait for me Pipes...I'll be back...I love you..."_

_That night, Piper received a text message. She quickly grabbed her phone on the bedside and read it._

**_Alex: Some asshole messed up with our operation. We got extended. I'll try to be back on Saturday. Wait for me...I love you._**

_Piper closed the device and slowly let her arms to fall on her side. She sighed then turned her head to look at her sleeping daughter on the bed. She smiled a little, moving slowly to lie beside her sweet little baby. She kissed her head gently and situated herself to lie comfortably beside her. She lifted her arm and clicked open her phone screen._

**_Piper: Be safe. We'll wait. I love you too..._**

* * *

**Author's Note: Thanks again. I hope you're still reading this. Cheers! :)**


	11. Chapter 10 : Promises

**A little filter.**

* * *

Chapter 10

An hour, countless shots and numerous turned down offers and Alex was still at the bar sitting with Nicky, drinking the life out of her. She quickly ordered shots as soon as she arrived at the bar and Nicky started going on and on about her business, Lorna and all the things she could think of. Alex was thankful for the distraction really, but she just couldn't bring herself to be interested in the conversation a bit. Her mind, it's been occupied of the events earlier. Her sudden confession, Piper's childish reaction caused by her alcohol intoxication, Max walking out on her— everything. All of it. It's too much that she could feel her head would explode anytime soon.

Piper's reaction was understandable though. Sure, Alex understood that she's shock, she's mad and even the thrown pillows, but what made her upset with Piper was the fact that she pushed her away. She kicked her out that easily without giving her the chance to explain herself. She knew that right after her confession, Piper's fucking brain must had immediately thought of the worst and she jumped to conclusions, but seriously? Couldn't she just give her the chance to come clean instead of pushing her off the bed (literally)?

_Fuck! It's not like I wanted any of this to happen! _

Alex clenched her jaw, glaring at Nicky through the corner of her eyes.

She knew she should talk to Nicky. It's the whole reason she called her anyway, but as soon as she sat her sorry ass on the bar, her mouth was suddenly glued and would only open to take shots. She knew that she might be bothering Nicky by calling this late, but thankful for her presence though. At times like this—when she had an ugly fight with Piper, it's only Nicky's presence she truly appreciates.

Thankfully, Nicky sensed that and proceeded to just do the talking and entertained herself. It's not like she could force Alex to talk and she knew this really well. Nicky sighed audibly, looking at her disconnected friend. Seeing Alex like this—hurt, totally down and internally kicking herself, somehow upset Nicky. She knew though that nothing she could say would make her feel any less than an asshole but at least she could try to push her to speak her mind until she could feel better about herself.

Just then, Nicky decided with the thought. She would get her to talk, even annoying the hell out of Alex was her only option.

"Are you even listening, Vause?", Nicky's nudged on Alex's arm brought her back to earth. She sighed for the nth time now and looked at her bushy-haired friend apologetically. "Alright. I get it. You're upset and probably wanna kill yourself right now, but Vause...C'mon! Look at the brighter side! At least now you can be pleased of your guilt-free self."

Alex just looked at her sadly, lifting the glass of vodka to her lips completely ignoring her friend's remark. Nicky rolled her eyes and grabbed the glass from her hand before she could down the liquid. Alex leaned back quickly avoiding the spilled liquid from the glass that almost hit her shirt.

"The fuck Nicky!"

"Finally, you talked! I almost thought Chapman cut your tongue so you couldn't be able to lick other women's pussy!", Nicky blurted out waving her arms dramatically.

Alex gave her a look and waved to the bartender for another drink. This time, she asked for a bottle of beer.

"Please...I just wanted to get drunk and passed out on the bed...", Alex frowned at her last word.

_Who am I kidding? I'd probably wouldn't have the privilege of sleeping on my own bed tonight. Hell, probably for the next few days!_

"Fuck this!", Alex gritted her teeth hanging her head low. Nicky eyed her sighing shortly. "Hey! You got a spare room at your place, right?", she turned to Nicky.

"No, I got it all rented out to some fine ass bitches I saw last night..."

"Nicky!"

"Shut up! I already got enough fair share about this shit...", Nicky raised her hand dismissively.

"Seriously? You're gonna turn me down now?"

"Fuck Vause! I'm already out of the equation; I don't wanna sign up anymore!"

"Look—", Nicky was cut off by Alex's ringing phone.

Nicky followed her hand fishing out the wailing device and checking at the caller I.D. Alex instantly had an irritated expression as soon as her eyes landed on the lighted screen. She hushed down the device, hanging up the call while rolling her eyes at the process. She sighed loudly putting back the phone in her pocket. She had no energy to put it on voice-mail though.

Nicky looked at her first before continuing with her thought. "Look, Vause—"

Again, she was cut off by the ringing phone. Alex pulled out her phone and hung up yet again.

"Jesus, could you just answer that?", Nicky suggested irritatingly.

"It's just...It's Molly! Piper's rambling bestfriend!", Alex snorted grabbing the beer on the counter.

"Why would she call you this fucking late?", Nicky asked confused, following the same action.

"I don't know! But I'm guessing Piper already reported to her...", Alex rolled her eyes at her wife. She didn't like it when Piper would come to Polly right after their fight and spilled their personal life to her. It's not like Alex didn't like Polly, it's just that she didn't like other people knowing about their issues at the moment when they'll supposed to be talking about it. It's frustrating. Though she couldn't blame Piper. After all, Polly's part of her life and she just needed her release.

But still.

Suddenly, her phone growled again like she could imagine the person on the other line was probably doing now. Alex snarled, finally giving up, pressing her phone to her ear closely. She immediately regretted that when Polly growled loudly from the other line.

**_"_****_Fucking Christ! What the fuck were you doing! Why've you hanging up my calls!"_**

"Jesus!", Alex immediately disconnected the phone on her ear. "What the fuck do you want, Holly?"

**_"_****_It's Po—Whatever...", _**Alex could almost see Polly rolling her eyes and she was slightly pleased by it. **_"Where in the fucking corner of the Bermuda triangle were you now? Seriously Super Cunt, you needed to stop this 'disappearing act' every damn time you fucked something up!" _**

Alex raised her eyebrows at the expected name-calling. She heard Nicky chuckling at her side, obviously amused at the conversation. Polly wasn't really discreet when she's at the phone with her.

**_"_****_Who was that?", _**she must've heard Nicky.

"I'm on-duty!", Alex nonchalantly lied, ready to hang up any moment.

**_"_****_On-duty? How original! Could've fooled me...I'm not Piper, idiot!"_**

"The fuck do you want? Seriously, Pol! Stop bothering me! I don't need any more shit to deal with tonight!", Alex scowled almost putting down her phone to hang up when Polly beat her to it.

**_"_****_Don't you dare hang up on me until I said what I've been meaning to say!"_**

Alex sighed in defeat, knowing Polly won't let her hear the end of it. She glanced at Nicky who just shrugged as she slowly lifted her phone to her ear.

**_"_****_Seriously, Alex! What made you do this? Why are you hurting Piper like this?"_**

"You don't know anything!"

**_"_****_Exactly! I don't know anything and I could already feel how devastated Piper is right now! Seriously Alex! How many times are you planning on hurting my best friend?"_**

Alex was taken back at Polly's suddenly soft-tone and concern. She slightly hung her head down, instantly embarrassed and bad about herself. Hearing Polly talking about how she was hurting Piper, only made her inside curled painfully. She could imagine Piper on their bed, lying miserably. Crying out from every possibly false but tormenting context her mind could made up. Thinking about what she could have done wrong for Alex to decide that she should have a kid with another woman. And the fact that she hid it from Piper was something that could make anybody think of the worst. Alex could almost see the thoughts running through Piper's mind and even she could feel the ache her wife must have feeling right now.

Well, it's not all completely her fault anyway. Piper could've saved herself from this entire situation if only she gave her the time to explain her side. They could've already sort everything up if only they had talked about it. If only they set aside their pride and chose to listen to each other, or if only Alex was patient, taking her wife in her arms instead of dragging her stuck-up self out of their room just because of a few thrown pillows. If only they weren't such self-involved assholes only thinking about what they're feeling and inconsiderate of the other. If only they weren't themselves awhile ago.

"It's not like I planned on it...It's...Pol, I don't think any of my explanations would valid...", Alex sighed sadly, thankful when Nicky reached out to rub her shoulder comfortingly. The whole time, her bushy-haired friend was quiet, listening to the conversation and would only drink her beer occasionally.

**_"_****_Well, you could've at least try..."_**

Alex unconsciously bit her bottom lip. Polly was right. She could've tried. But can you say? It's Alex. And being cut off by thrown pillows unbelievably hit her guts and got to her. Now she felt like shit for being too shallow. This was certainly not like her.

"I'm too fucking _great_ to try...", Alex chuckled sadly as Polly sighed on the other line. She was about to say something when Nicky suddenly grabbed the phone from her hand.

"Listen, Molly...", again, Alex could sense Polly rolling her eyes. "I don't know if you know me, but since you're Chapman's go-to person then I'm guessing she had already mentioned about me at some point...Look, I'm Nichols...Alex's screwed up best friend that happened to be the person who's at fault here...", Nicky sighed shortly. "I'm not explaining myself nor I'm saving Vause's ass, but she shouldn't be the one to blame at about this whole fucking mess!"

Alex was surprised at Nicky's action but touched nonetheless. She must be a pain in the ass but Nicky certainly knows what and when to speak at the right moment. She smiled gratefully at her friend and was returned instantly. She put Polly on speakers so they could listen to her both.

**_"_****_If you could elaborate?"_**

"Ha! Slow pacing...Definitely Chapman's girl pal...", Nicky shook her head amused and Alex had to smile at that. She could almost see Polly's 'what-the-fuck' expression. "Ok, Ok...Back to the topic...", Nicky paused, looking at Alex for some permission to speak. She smiled a little as Nicky continued. "So, you already know that Max was Vause's kid right?"

**_"_****_Yeah..."_**

"Look...Chapman gone through a lot of trauma...The miscarriages, unsuccessful tries...", pause. "But you obviously know how stubborn she could be, right? So of course she would insist to try again...but Alex here...wouldn't let it happen..."

**_"_****_But she does!"_**

"Exactly! So her romantic-self thought that maybe a surrogate wasn't a bad idea after all, though in my opinion, they should've considered that already after a miscarriage, but well, they're idiots so...", Nicky tried to keep a straight face when Alex shoved her but smirked anyway.

**_"_****_Yeah, I thought that too...",_**Polly agreed.

"See! Even you think it's a good idea! So I don't think what Alex did was wrong! That's what I've been telling her! But then, of course, plot twist! She didn't tell her wife first and Chapman decided to impregnate herself too, which I did see coming, knowing the fact how full of shit she was, probably thinking she could come up to Alex after and _'Surprise! I'm pregnant!'_", Nicky mockingly copied Piper's voice.

**_"_****_Ha! I could almost imagine Super cunt's eyes bulging out of her socket!", _**Alex rolled her eyes at the two laughing woman and just drank her luke-warm beer, scrunching her face after.

"Hilarious!", Nicky gave one last laugh and sighed amusedly. "That incident actually happened right after I told Vause that her ex-girlfriend was pregnant!"

Alex choked on her beer swiftly looking at Nicky shocked at what she just told Polly. She heard Polly gasping from the other line.

"Yeah! Could you imagine the coincidence! Chapman and the surrogate was pregnant at the same time!", Nicky laughed off oblivious of what she just said awhile ago.

**_"_****_W-wait...Could you repeat that...Piper and..."_**

"Yes...Chapman and the surrogate! At the same time!"

**_"_****_No! The other thing!"_**

Nicky suddenly looked at Alex confused when she tried to grab her phone but Nicky swiftly stood up holding the phone out of reach.

"Nicky! What the fuck! Give me the phone!", Alex almost stumbled on the floor due to her slight drunkenness.

"Wait...You were saying?", Nicky returned back to Polly ignoring Alex as she tried to get the phone from her.

**_"_****_Ex-girlfriend..."_**

"What?"

**_"_****_You said ex-girlfriend...Is the surrogate was Alex's ex-girlfriend?"_**

"What! Did I say that?", Nicky looked a little confused when her eyes suddenly went wide. She was stiff for a moment when Alex successfully grabbed the phone. "Shit! I think I just did..."

"Hey! Hey Pol!", Alex hastily pressed the phone on her ear shaking uncontrollably. Polly would surely give her the hell of it. "Pol...Listen..."

**_"_****_Fucking get your ass home or I swear I'm going to tell Piper first!", _**Polly loudly ordered from the other line as she hang up right after.

"Damnit!", Alex could feel her eardrum shattering at the growled from the other line. Her drunk-mind forgot that Polly was on speakers and now she's nursing her sore ear. She sighed for awhile, turning to look at Nicky. She raised her hands in surrender and smiled awkwardly.

"Vause...relax..."

Alex shut her eyes closed pissed off, grabbing her jacket on the stool seat.

"Oh! Fucking christ!"

* * *

Alex slowly opened the front door of the apartment. The lights were off and it was all silence. She sighed nervously, taking off her jacket and hanging it. She was glued on the spot and couldn't bring herself to take a step. Suddenly, she didn't felt welcome in her own home.

She looked around; focusing her eyes on anything she could manage to see. Her gazed fall on the couch, the white pillow she took with her awhile ago was no longer there. The bottle of beer she left on the coffee table was also gone. She lifted her hand to fumble for the switch on the wall but decided against it, putting her hand down, walking slowly while leaning on the wall for guidance. She made it on the couch and collapsed on it. It would be hard to sleep on it without a pillow but she could deal with it. She knew she could go to their room and sleep on the bed instead, but she didn't felt like it. Maybe she's embarrassed, maybe she didn't want to see Piper's probably tear-stained face now, or maybe she was too scared to do that. Maybe it's every reason she could think of.

Alex sighed. She never felt so disappointed with herself until now.

She situated herself to lie on the couch as comfortably as she could and looked up at the ceiling. She could feel her brain ticking from the amount of alcohol she drank but it's nothing compared at how heavy her heart was now. It was so heavy that she could feel herself sinking further to the couch. She closed her eyes wishing the weight would be lifted off of her by sleep but it only got heavier. It did get heavier. She was literally sinking on the couch, like it was eating her.

_What the fuck!_

Alex had almost opened her eyes to visually see what's happening when she felt two soft fingers were lightly pressed on her eyes. She immediately stiffened, her mind unable to grasp at anything.

"What the—", she was about to verbalized what she was thinking awhile ago when she was hushed by a hand on her left cheek and thumb pressed gently on her lips.

"Sleep...", that soft familiar voice alone could send Alex soaring to the farthest side of contentment. That voice alone could make her body relax involuntarily without her mind telling to do it. That voice alone could tug at her heart lifting all the weight off of it.

"Pipes...", and her name. It rolled from her mouth like velvet. It rolled from mouth like symphony for the latter's ears.

"Shhh...", Alex could feel her lips moving slightly on her chest. She was smiling. Her wife was smiling. "Sleep Alex...and please just let me hold you..."

"Piper..."

"I'm still mad...but I'm keeping my promise..."

Alex gulped, remembering their words to each other before their fight. She smiled heartily, moving her arms to hold her wife lying on top of her.

"Thank you, Piper..." a contented sigh. "I love you..."

"I love you too...and I will always wake up next to you..."

* * *

**AN: Reviews? Next chapter would be a faster pace. **


	12. Chapter 11 : Cinnamon and Hazelnut

**A/N: I know, I told last time that this will be a fast pacing but I just couldn't get this idea out of my head. I hope this chapter won't disappoint. **

**I'm posting the second part probably on Thursday. Pretty busy lately.****Ok, enough with the excuses. Here's the new chap. Enjoy! **

**Cheer! :)**

* * *

Chapter 11

Alex had never been this grateful for alcohol. Well, for her wife's side anyway. Ironic, yes. Remembering how much she cursed at it last night. Now, her still slightly alcohol tinted brain couldn't stop thinking about their little sweet moment later last night.

Basically, Piper would unbelievably gain this 'bi-polar' attitude when she's drunk. She would be at her extremities when she tasted alcohol. The first few hours would be hell as she could act all bitchy and feisty, violent even, like she didn't have a care in the world. But the next hours were much more rewarding. Alex smiled at the thought. 'Cos the later part is when she would definitely take the full turn to her softest but unexpected side—being this alluring and totally seductive but mushy teddy bear that Alex finds so irresistible.

Alex unconsciously bit her bottom lip. Some flashbacks of their adventures around the world instantly came flashing through her mind. She remembered how she would sometimes intentionally make Piper drunk so she would experience her on top of her. The aggressiveness, rough and mind-blowing sex. The primitive and hungry animal unleashed suddenly by alcohol. But somehow, she would be equally sweet and sappy. Alex's smile grew bigger. Those experiences. It's so fucking good that Alex didn't mind if she wouldn't be able to walk the next day.

_God! I miss those days._

Alex sighed dreamily, looking afar. She would definitely trade anything for a minute of that experience again. Damn. Her wife could drive her stupidly insane.

Abruptly, her day dreaming was interrupted by heavy footsteps heading to the kitchen where she's currently sitting. She looked at the entrance seeing Piper with an awfully sulking face walking vigorously to the kitchen counter.

_Bad hang-over? This part, I hate._ Alex sighed shortly.

Piper didn't look at her though; instead she turned as if looking for something. Alex just stared at her, lifting her cup of coffee to her lips. Suddenly Piper followed her action as her jaw clenched a little. She gave Piper a confused look as she awkwardly cleared her throat when she put down her cup. Piper glared at her and turned to the cupboard to grab a cup. Then it hit Alex why she's suddenly upset.

_Of all the time I will fucking forget to make her coffee, I choose this time! Shit!_

Well, it's kinda like their thing every morning. Alex would make the coffee because she's really damn good at it and Piper would make the toast. Apparently, it's a little different this morning. Thanks to Alex's early mushy day-dreams, she totally forgot her duty.

Alex carefully glanced at her wife as she walked back to the counter across from her to the coffee machine. She gulped when Piper forcefully lifted the pot.

"God! I'm such a troublesome wife.", Piper chuckled bitterly. "I guess you're missing your house bunny 'cos she's probably the one making you coffee in the morning...", she commented still with a pang of bitterness while roughly grabbing the cinnamon and hazelnut containers.

Alex jerked hearing that comment.

_The fuck! Did Polly—_

"Oh, and she's probably making you pancakes and sunny-side up eggs too before she send your ass out to your undercover assignments...", Piper scrunched up her nose in pent up anger while gesturing her spoon to her.

"Pipes...what are you—"

"Oh sorry, am I assuming again? 'Cos, I did that a lot lately actually...", Piper cut her off narrowing her look at her.

Alex was trying to form a coherent explanation but her mind just couldn't. Hang-over got her bad also.

_Please! Can I just go back to my day-dreaming state awhile ago?_

Oh, how she wished she hadn't just woke up. Everything that happened last night now came crashing back to her mind. The confession, the terrible argument, Nicky's slipped, the couch encounter. Everything. Alex sighed shortly. But actually, it wasn't all that bad. The couch encounter was definitely sweet. Well, until Piper woke up and pushed her down to the floor with an awfully shocked expression which kinda looked like she had just woken up from an unexpected one-night stand of some sort. Then, she walked out on her, walking quickly to their room as Alex was left confused.

And now here they are, going through their unfinished argument.

Alex sighed audibly, scratching the back of her head.

_I need to let this whole fucking story out to stop these misunderstandings!_

"Look Pipes...", Alex thinned her lips nervously while shutting her eyes momentarily. Her wife didn't look at her and continued what she's doing. "You're gonna listen to me, alright?"

Piper remained silent.

"There's something you still need to know about and I you need to be open-minded about the situation..."

"Open-minded?", Piper scoffed. "Really, Alex? I've been open-minded since we got together again! I tried to accept every shit you're throwing at me! I even understand the career choice you decided to take! All the consequences of your job! And even your whole deal with Nicky that I still don't fucking know! But have you heard anything from me? Have I complain even once? God no! I didn't! And now you're telling me this being open-minded shit? Jesus, Alex! Are you really this jerk?"

Now it's getting serious. Alex bit her inner cheek, calming herself down and focusing on the matter.

"Piper, please...just let me talk...", Alex tried to calm her wife but Piper wasn't really in it for a nice and peaceful conversation. Thanks bad hang-over.

"No! You're that one's who has been closed and secretive this whole fucking time! All this time you're keeping your other _family _from me! All this time you've been cheating on me, with this...this disgraced home-wrecking bitch who even agreed to have your baby! God! Alex! How do you expect me to deal with that? How do you expect me to...to...Fuck Alex! Did you even love me?", Piper's tears were threatening to fall.

_Wait...What just happened?_

Alex was surprised her wife just asked that. How did she even come up with that? Her last statement was all it took for her throw everything away and stood up to hold her wife. Clearly, this whole mess was getting to her and confusing her more than Alex had thought.

So she held her tightly, even if Piper's forcefully pushing her away. She enveloped her with her arms, not wanting to let go. This is too much. She buried her face on the top of her wife's head. She couldn't bear to see her wife's hurtful face.

"Are kidding me now, Pipes?", Alex still tried to hide how the whole situation was killing her. "Are you not feeling it? After all that we've been through...are you not still getting how much I fucking love you?", she whispered softly in her wife's ear, even tightening her hold onto her. "Pipes...you got it all wrong...I didn't cheat on you...I never cheat on you...I never did, honey..."

"Then why this? Why Max?", Piper sobbed on her chest. "We have Andy, why would you still decide on this?"

"You asked me to try again..."

"I know! And I did!", Piper pushed her a little so she could look at Alex's eyes. At this confession, she wanted to look at her eyes. To look through everything she has to say.

"And didn't know that you did!", Alex looked at her, careful at not to raise her voice while stating her point. "And I wanted you to have what you wanted...", paused. "So I looked for a surrogate..."

"A su...A surrogate? And you didn't tell me?", Piper was skeptical.

_There it is. My fucking confession._

"I know...It was selfish...And completely wrong that I did not ask you first...but...Piper...babe, I was...I was scared...I was afraid that you would insist to carry it yourself...and...I, I was scared that we would have to go through everything again!", a pause. Piper let her eyes glued on her. "Hence the IVF, and the surrogate...I thought that maybe if...maybe if it was already done, then it'll be easier to take in...", Alex reasoned, intently focusing her eyes on her wife.

Piper was silent, still doubting her explanation. She slowly freed herself from Alex's hold, her eyes on her. "Spill it out, Alex...No more secrets..."

Alex sighed, averting her eyes on her wife. She took a little step back then looked at Piper with real sincerity and sorry. She gulped, preparing herself for her reaction.

"T-The surrogate...She's...She my...ex-lover..."

Piper's gasped told her that she's even more pissed off now. Well, who would be pleased knowing your wife had a child with her ex-lover because her pathetic wife couldn't give her one?

"Ex-...Ex-lover?", Piper slowly let the word flow through her lips with distaste.

Alex averted her look and raised her hand on her head. "God! Now it sounded much worse...", she muttered. "She's my ex-girlfriend, Pipes..."

"...Ex-lover?", Piper repeated. "Y-You...loved her?", her voice suddenly cracked as Alex whipped her head to look at her.

"Pipes, no! I didn't!"

"Oh god!", Piper pushed her and turned to lean on the counter, resting her hands on it.

"Pipes...", Alex raised her hand to reach for her wife but was cut off mid-way.

"When?", Piper gritted. "When did this happen?"

Alex turned her gaze on the cups of coffee on the counter. "A week after we decided to try again..."

Piper huffed turning around to face Alex. "At the same fucking week I did too! Fuck! I bet I bumped onto this whore at some point at the clinic!"

"I don't think for sure...It's kind of a private thing—"

"Ha!", Piper scoffed. "A private thing, right..."

"What the—Piper! It's not my whole fucking idea to...to stick up my eggs to her!"

"Your eggs? God! Oh, god...gross!"

"I did not choose the surrogate for fuck's sake! It just happened! I could care less who the hell would carry the kid as long as I give you what you want!"

"And fucking fate played you and your _'eggs'_...", air-quote. "...ended up in your ex-lover's vagina! What a fucking coincidence, Alex!", Piper distastefully yelled at her.

"Fuck! It was Nicky!"

"Jesus! The surrogate was Nicky? Alex! You dated Nicky? What the fuck!"

"God no! Now you're gross!", Alex cringed in disgust. "Jesus...how did we end up in this conversation, anyway?"

"Just fucking say it Alex!"

Alex looked away. Somehow, she didn't want Nicky to get involved again with the mess. She already owed her too much because of Max.

"Alex!"

"Ok! Ok! Jeez!", Alex sighed. "I asked Nicky to look for the surrogate...and she played me up. 'Cos apparently, she's still hang up with me, giving up the cartel and abandoning her...", she honestly reasoned. "And she asked my ex-girlfriend to be the surrogate just so she could fucking mess with me..."

"She did what? Alex! Are making just this up?"

"What! No! Pipes, I'm fucking honest here! Trust me!", pause. "And you know...I regretted it after! I...I almost aborted Max because of it...when I found out that you're pregnant...", Alex shamefully admitted hanging her head low and bit her bottom lip, preventing her emotions to took over.

Piper stiffened._ She did what?_

"God...Alex...", Piper somehow felt bad at that confession. She was still for a moment and tried to reach for her but, decided not to. She was still digesting all the information and was a little confused.

Alex looked at her, trying to see through her confused reaction. All she needed right now was Piper believing her. Just that, the hell with everything.

When Piper didn't say anything more and just blankly stared at her, Alex sighed and slowly walked to the other side of the counter to grab her coffee. She knew Piper was still processing it and now she's giving her time. She was about to take a sip of her coffee when Piper turned to look at her.

"That was so...messed up Alex...", she commented.

"I know...", Alex quietly replied. At this point, there's really nothing she could say. Now, all she could do is wait on how Piper would take it. She slowly took Piper's cup to finish her coffee and waited for what her wife would say. "I wish you did tell me that you're impregnating yourself too...", Alex suddenly spoke.

_Now she's blaming me?_

"Fuck! Now it's my fault?", Piper snapped.

"No! I just thought that maybe we had talked about it!"

"Are you fucking kidding me?", Piper scoffed. "By default, ofcourse I'm suppose to carry the baby! I'm your fucking wife!"

"And that's whole fucking reason I looked for a surrogate!", Alex snapped back. "I don't want you to carry the baby! Piper! Don't you get it? I'm fucking scared that we might lose the baby again!", she quickly halted when she realized she was raising her voice at her wife. She leaned back a little trying to hide the sob that almost escaped her mouth. She looked down and bit her bottom lip miserably. Not fighting back the emotions that were eating her up inside and let it flow through her nerves. Piper just looked at her, focused on what she had to say.

"And worst—", Alex continued. She put down the spoon she's using to stir the coffee she just made and looked straight to her wife's blue eyes. "I was...I'm...I'm scared that I might lose you..."

Piper was silent, slowly settling down on the stool by the counter. She eyed her every movement, unable to think of anything at the moment. This confession was nothing she thought how it would turn out and she just couldn't bring herself to believe every word Alex said. It's too obscure. Too scripted and movie-like.

How was she supposed to react at that? The surrogate. The deal with Nicky. The ex-girlfriend. And now, Alex's sincere and honest confession.

_I'm scared that I might lose you. _Alex's voice echoed through her head. Her emotions were getting into her. She was showing her vulnerable side now. She's opening up to Piper with those pained and sorry eyes unafraid to break in front of her. Unafraid to show her how this whole fucking situation was also hurting her.

Piper gritted her teeth as her gaze fall on the offered drink that Alex set in front of her. She was avoiding her look but Piper let her eyes on her. She noted how nervous and worried Alex was, unconsciously nibbling her bottom lip like a fucking kid. Then her eyes landed on her lips.

Suddenly, Piper frowned. Her body was telling her to give up all this pent up anger, take her wife in her arms and tell her that 'It's all right'. That she understands. That she was sorry for jumping to conclusions and for pushing her away, not listening to her explanations. That no matter how fucked up the situation is and how hurt and pained she had felt, still she's ready to accept her because she loves her. She accepts and loves her with every fiber of her being even though she kept her in the dark for 17 fucking years.

_Alex..._Piper's mind kept on repeating her wife's name over and over with longing and forgiveness. She just couldn't stay mad at her for too long. She just couldn't resist forgiving her at that moment, but her fucking guts and ego would kick in. Her goddamn pride would still get the best of her. She wanted to hold Alex. She wanted to touch her. To accept everything. To believe her. But she just couldn't able to move from her spot.

She stared at her spaced out wife. Alex looked like she's deep in her thoughts, still waiting for her reaction after that heart-felt confession.

**_And this wasn't really all Alex's fault_**_._ Her mind kept on telling her. But still she stood her ground. She remained this asshole and resisted to accept her apology.

**_Who are you kidding? You already forgave her even before she asked for it. _**_Shut up brain! _Piper internally kicked herself.

**_Nicky. _**Her mind averted her thoughts.

_That stupid drug-dealing junky was so unbelievable! How could she do such thing? What the hell was she thinking playing at their life like she's a fucking god? Who the hell she thinks she is?_

"I...I don't know Alex...I'm still...", Alex looked at her.

"You have every right to be angry..."

"I don't know if I'm angry...I'm confused...by you..."

Alex sadly smirked. "I'm confused by me too...", a pause. "I'm pretty much the master of handling things completely wrong..."

"Yeah, well, that's an understatement...", Alex snapped a look at her.

"Look, Piper...I'm fucked up...I know! But could you just look deeper? Just...look at me...", Alex looked at her straight to the eyes but she couldn't. She couldn't stand seeing her pained right now.

Piper bit her bottom lip. "I don't know..."

Silence fell on both of them. They turned their head away from each other, looking at nowhere. They were lost in their own thoughts, deliberating what else to say at each other. Piper lifted her gaze and looked at Alex for a split second and sighed deeply.

**_Stop being an asshole, Piper. _**_Didn't I tell you to shut up, huh brain?_ Piper momentarily scoffed. Now, she's losing her fucking mind. Great.

She was about to say something when they heard someone coming to the kitchen. Alex was suddenly devastated, seeing Max walked in.

"Fuck! I set my alarm way too late...", Max gnarled as she turned to walk briskly to the front door.

"Kid...Kid, wait!", Alex quickly stood up to stop her from leaving but she was instantly gone. She sighed audibly then her eyes were met by the sight of her wife standing up.

"Where you going?

"At the porch..."

"We don't have a porch...", Piper just looked at her, then turned to leave.

"Pipes..."

"Just...anywhere!", she said suddenly irritated. "Sorry Alex, but seeing that kid still upsets me..."

Alex sighed looking at Piper walking out on her yet again. She leaned back on the counter, raising her hand on her head. She looked through her shoulder at the spot where Piper was sitting awhile ago. Her gaze fell on the cup of coffee she had made her.

_And this issue ain't over yet._

* * *

**A/N: Incorporated some lines from OITNB. I just felt like it suited the scene. Ha! **

**Now, Piper knows everything, we'll just have to see how she will deal with Max. An expected encounter next chapter! And you will all get to see Detective Alex Vause. This story will pretty much shift to a more darker side. Just imagine OITNB season 2. Ha!**

**Ok! Until next time! :)**


	13. Chapter 12 : Bust

**A/N: As promised. This chapter could be a little confusing and rushed. The next few chapters will make up for it. I bet you will need some explanations after reading this chapter. Intrigued yet? Ha! Go on. Start reading...**

* * *

Chapter 12

"Pipes, just go home...", Piper was perplexed looking at her best friend as she leaned on the counter where she got the duty of the cashier today. She sighed loudly looking somewhat tired and disconnected.

"And what do you expect me to do there? Curl up in a fatal position while crying my heart out feeling like an asshole?", she sarcastically commented in which Polly rolled her eyes.

Polly shrugged casually and raised her eyebrows challengingly. "If that's gonna help you to get the fuck out of your head, then be it!"

"No! I'm pathetic enough, thank you very much..."

"Jesus! Piper! Just go, okay? I'll cover your shift...you're causing me too much trouble already, throwing snarky and _rude_ comments at our customers! And you aren't helping!", Polly stood up straight crossing her arms, looking like she was really pissed off at Piper right now.

Piper cursed under her breath while ducking her head on the counter, feeling tired and bored, and irritated and mad, and pathetic and an asshole all at the same time. God! How much she regretted not having coffee this morning! Now all she could feel was her pulsating head and the heavy feeling on her chest. Though she's aware the person who could lift all this weight off of her was just a phone call away, still Piper remained resistant. 'Cos of course, assholes are assholes, so she would resist Alex until she felt like she had made efforts to take her back. Hey! What's wrong with a little ego boost? After feeling like shit and pathetic, that's the least she could do to feel a little good about herself.

"Fuck! I hate her!", she mumbled on her arms as she remained in the same position until she heard Polly walking away.

Polly looked at her weirdly while shaking her head. She continued to walk away as she mumbled quietly about how dramatic Piper could be. Piper ignored her and remained unmoved on the counter. She heard Polly walking over to her again and she anticipated her terrible lectures and snarky comments but instead, her best friend sighed sadly. "Just go home, Pipes! I'm tired of seeing your sulking face anymore...", she softly said as Piper whipped her head up hearing the underlining concern from her best friend's tone.

Piper just looked at her and felt sorry instantly. She sighed shortly, turning to walk to their little lounge at the back of the store to grab her things. She slowly walked to the front door of the shop, turning slightly to glance at her best friend behind her.

"Go! Or I will literally kick your ass!"

* * *

"Max!", Max was immediately greeted by a muscular man wiping glasses behind the bar as soon as she walked in.

"Hey, Arturo! It's been awhile...", she nodded her head at him as she held onto the hand of the Latina trailing behind her. Arturo eyed her plus one and slightly raised her eyebrows questioningly. Max turned to look at Flaca finding her scanning the place. She smirked looking back at Arturo. "She's with me..."

"Ok, Champ...", Arturo smirked back. "You know where to go.", he pointed the door behind him as Max nodded slightly. She held onto Flaca's hand a little tighter as they walked to the door.

They walked to a narrow hallway with a door at the end. Flaca looked a little nervous but Max waved it off. She opened the door to a barely lit room filled with people of different features but everybody looked decent like the room but whole place smelled like shit. As soon as they entered, Flaca saw the little stage at the center of the room through the thick smoke surrounding the place. Every corner of the room there were wide comfortable couches and a small table. There's even a small bar by the left side of the room, a pool table at the right and people at the left corner playing a serious game of poker. It looked like a little casino in Vegas, where drugs and alcohol were passed around like it was the menu of the restaurant.

"Cool place...", Flaca commented with an amused expression on her face. Max smirked looking at the Latina as she walked further to the room.

"I know right? This is where I usually hang out when things got shitty.", Max said honestly. She took Flaca's hand and led her to one of the couches in the corner. "Well, until some cops busted this place a few weeks ago...", she sat comfortably on the couch. "I'm glad my people still run this place..."

Flaca followed her and sat on the couch beside her. She looked a little at ease now but still got a hint of nervousness. Max smiled at her comfortingly and put her arm around her shoulder.

"Relax, chica...We're going to have fun...", she tried to put on her best smug look but Flaca wasn't fooled by the facade. She could instantly sense that something was bothering the brunette.

"You know, you can just talk to me...", Flaca sounded sincere but Max waved it off. She lifted her arm from the Latina's shoulder and leaned back to the couch.

The last thing Max wanted right now is to talk about Alex and their fucked up situation.

"I hate talking..."

"Hey! Man!", a huge Caucasian man walked to their couch and greeted Max. She stood up and leaned in for a one-arm hug, grinning widely.

"How you doing, Chris?", Max smiled at the man and turned a little to introduce the Latina seated on the couch. "Chris, this is Flaca...", Flaca stood up shaking Chris' offered hand. She smiled a little at him and looked cautiously at Max.

"New recruit?", he narrowed his eyes at Flaca as if studying her. She held his eyes a bit but averted it eventually and smiled awkwardly at him. "Hey, Latina...did I know you somewhere?"

Flaca bit her inner cheek and chuckled nervously. "I-I don't think so, _Chris_..."

"I swear, I've seen you before...", he stared at her leaning back a little. Max bounced a look at the two, looking a bit surprised. Flaca just half smiled and shook her head as Chris looked at her with a teasing smile. "I don't know if it's in my dreams or the one when I almost died from overdose and slightly had a glimpse of heaven...", he chuckled teasingly at his own joke as Max rolled her eyes while Flaca looked at him weirdly.

"Oh, if it isn't the worst pick up line I've ever heard...", she playfully shoved him as he laughed uncontrollably. "Seriously, Chris? You're high as a kite already?"

"Sorry, man. Your date just looks hot...", he chuckled a bit more. "But anyway, you're just in time for the bidding..."

"Bidding?", Flaca asked instantly.

They both looked at her as Max explained. "Yeah, it's just a little game these assholes made up, where everyone will bid for the best stuff in the house..."

"Yeah...it's for charity...", Chris chuckled as Flaca raised her eyebrows at Max.

"We're like fucking Robin Hood...", Max mockingly quipped as Flaca rolled her eyes at her.

"I hope you join for the bidding, man...", Chris turned to Max. "It's some great awesome new shit...They say it's from the south...Man! It's so good! You'll be feel like Obama...", he chuckled.

"Yeah?", Max sniggered. "Well, no thanks, man...I'll probably just gonna have the regular..."

"Okay, dude. Suit yourself...", he smiled at him and turned to leave the two.

Max grinned and threw herself on the couch once again. She motioned for the Latina to sit beside her and she did. She looked a bit troubled for some reason but still, Max ignored it.

_Probably just overwhelmed by the new surrounding..._

"Hey...you ok?", Max asked concerned.

"Y-Yeah...Yeah... I'm fine...", Flaca smiled a little at her. "I-I think, I just need a drink..."

Max smirked at her, lifting herself from the couch. "Ok, I can do that...Arturo have some amazing tequila at the bar, let me grab some for us...", she said in a thick Spanish accent and smiled at her.

Flaca returned the smile. "That would be great...", Max grinned and ruffled Flaca's hair playfully earning an adorable whine from the Latina. She quickly stepped back laughing when Flaca tried to swat her hand. "You're Spanish accent sucks!", Flaca feigned irritation as Max retreated from the room still laughing.

As soon as Max was out of sight, Flaca's smile dropped as she sighed stressfully while carefully scanning the room. She looked at every single person in there and tried to memorize every single face. She turned to her right and found a door with 'EXIT' in red neon light labelled on top of it. She stood up walking to the door, avoiding all the stoned body on her way. She put her hand in the pocket of her black leather jacket grabbing her phone.

* * *

"Nicky! Where the fuck are you! I need to talk to you!", Alex held her phone, shaking.

**_"_****_God! Vause! I was about to call you!"_**_,_ she was greeted by a stressed out Nicky. **_"Your wife is calling me non-stop and leaving threatening voicemails! I'm going nuts!"_**

Alex bit her bottom lip preventing the remorseful sigh escaping from her. She felt a little guilty from mentioning Nicky to Piper and now her friend had to deal with her wife's wrath.

"I'm sorry Nicky...I had to tell the truth...", she replied apologetically.

**_"_****_I know, I kinda deserve those fucking insults and grudges, but damn! She's way out of hand!"_**

"What'd she tell you?", she asked a little interested.

**_"_****_Are you asking me to say it one by one? 'Cos she started off by telling that I'm a narcissistic bitch and she hoped I will never be happy and I would never have a glimpse of Lorna ever again! Damn! I almost believe her! It fucking hurt a bit, Vause! I still have feelings!"_**

Alex chuckled a little, amused at her indignant wife. "She didn't mean that...She's just mad Nicky...", Alex sighed. "Nichols...I'm getting worst, I don't know what to feel anymore..."

**_"_****_And as much as I wanted to hear your pathetic monologue, I can't right now..."_**, Nicky sounded a little rushed which confused Alex a bit. **_"I got work to distract myself..."_**

Alex sighed and closed her eyes frustratedly. "Damn! I wish I'm back in _business_...it's the only thing that could distract me from this horrible situation..."

Nicky scoffed at that. **_"Regrets are the worst...", _**she sighed a bit. **_"Listen, I gotta go, Vause...I got this serious deal with a client last week..."_**

"What? What deal?", Alex was shocked. Suddenly, Nicky was talking about business with her.

**_"_****_Aren't you aware? Someone's been moving stuffs in the city..."_**

"What? Are you serious?", Alex was all ears now, her detective instinct kicking in.

**_"_****_Yeah...Coke...", _**Nicky replied. **_"You know, I gotta tip you...You need to stop this whole outbreak 'cos I gotta tell you...stuffs are moving fast..."_**

"How'd you know about all this?", she questioned more.

**_"_****_I'm also dealing coke besides H...I added variety to the menu...So I gotta know the competition..."_**, Nicky honestly answered as Alex hissed at her.

"The fuck! Since when did you start with that shit? I told you specifically that you'll be out of my radar as long as you keep your shit away from this city!", she was displeased at what Nicky just said. She sighed raising her hand on her head. This day couldn't get any worse.

**_"_****_I know! And I'm keeping my word! I don't deal in the city. I'm international!", _**Nicky sounded smug and Alex wanted to punch her right away.**_ "I just thought maybe you wanted to know about the operation happening at your own backyard...And it's huge...I'm starting to worry they'll compete internationally..."_**

Alex was shocked and furious immediately. For years, she had stopped all this operations and now it's happening again. She bit her inner cheek fighting her anger. She's already a fucked up in her own fucking house and now she's got to be a fucked up in her own job.

_Fuck! What a headache!_

Being a detective had given her so much responsibility and weight on her shoulder. The rush given by dealing drugs was unbelievably replaced by this incredible rush from every bust and undercover missions she does. And it felt good. Better even. It felt rewarding that's why she was immediately drawn to this job. Oh, how ironic life can be.

"Tell me...", Alex pushed on, all ears.

**_"_****_You know where to start, Vause..."_**, was all Nicky's answer as she hang up the phone.

Alex thought for a second when the old rustic bar she busted a few weeks ago for dealing cocaine immediately popped out of her head.

_At least, there's something to distract me from my issues..._

Alex stood up from her chair and grabbed her jacket. She was half-way on putting it on when her partner appeared from behind her.

"Gotta run, Vause...Get your ass out to the car...", Gonzales halted shortly in front of her then walked to the door.

"I know...", she cockily replied as Gonzales stopped and turned to look at her amused.

"Not surprise...", he smirked at her. "Who the fuck is your C.I. anyway? You gotta give the person some credits! He's fucking good!"

"Yeah...Got it all covered...", she gave him a look before walking out of the station.

"And when are you planning on introducing us?", Gonzales trailed behind.

Alex chuckled looking at him from her shoulder. "They are called _confidential informants_ for a reason, Gonzales..."

* * *

"The bar's open at eleven in the morning? Got an early shift, Arturo?", Alex called out as she entered the bar with Gonzales trailing behind her.

"Hey, detectives! What can I do for you?", the muscular man behind the counter wiping glasses instantly greeted them at soon as they entered the bar.

Gonzales immediately scanned the place, looking around as Alex walked to the bar and sat on the stool, prompting her elbows on the counter.

"Vodka sounds good actually...", Alex smirked at him and caught Gonzales looking at her weirdly from the corner of her eyes.

The bartender nodded pursing his lips as he grabbed two glasses from under the counter. He turned around and reached for the bottle of vodka from the rack.

"I like what you've done with the place, Arturo...", she commented as the bartender poured the liquid to the glasses.

Arturo chuckled, putting the bottle on the counter. "Yeah...You've turned my life around, detective...I'm forever grateful for that.", he replied eyeing the nosy detective looking around the bar.

"Glad to hear I'm helpful...", Alex smirked, circling the tip of her forefinger on the mouth of the glass of vodka in front of her.

Arturo smiled a little at her, averting his gaze and looking at the other detective suspiciously. "So, what did I do to reward such an unexpected visit?", he leaned on the counter, looking at Alex.

Alex shrugged casually looking directly at him. "Yeah...you know. We need to get out of the _cop shop _once in awhile. Those paper works are such a bum..."

The man sniggered, returning to his task awhile ago, wiping glasses. "You're awfully good at your job, detective...this place never been this clean since the Cold War..."

Alex chuckled smugly then her eyes landed on the wooden door behind the racks. She averted her look at Arturo who looked incredibly calm. She smirked a little, slowly lifting the bottle of vodka on the counter as if inspecting it. "Arturo, seriously? You're giving me this shit?", he whipped his head to look at her. "Oh, c'mon my friend...At least offer me those classy liquors from the vault...", she motioned at the door as Arturo followed her hand.

"Man!", Arturo shook his head at her. "Detective...how demanding could you be?", he chuckled loudly, shaking his head as Alex joined in with the chuckling.

Gonzales turned briskly looking at the both of them and grunted impatiently. "Oh, come on Alex! Cut with the crap!"

* * *

Max grinned walking out of the door to the narrow hallway to get the tequila from Arturo. She knew that she could just get something from the small bar in the room but her conceited self wanted to brag at the Latina. Though she only tasted that tequila once when Arturo let her took a sip the last time but damn, it was really fucking awesome and absolutely justified it's expensive worth. It was really good and swears that Flaca would definitely love it so she didn't mind the trouble of returning back to the main bar and harassing Arturo for it. She grinned widely anticipating his reaction, when she was halted while grabbing the knob of the door as she heard a conversation from the other side.

_"__Oh, c'mon my friend...At least offer me those classy liquors from the vault..."_

That voice.

_"__Man! Detective...how demanding could you be?",_ she heard Arturo chuckled with the women as Max instantly became stiff.

Surprisingly, Max felt this absurd panic and guilt as she remained unmoved from her spot. Her eyes were opened widely and all of a sudden she felt scared hearing that voice. She knew exactly who it was. The voice was distinct and anyone could easily pick it out from the crowd.

Max was still. Of all the place she could stumble at her, it had to be in this bar. In this joint. In this fucking place. Max's mouth ran dry and her mind couldn't think of anything except to run and she did just that. But as soon as she stepped back, her feet shuffled and she tripped on her own.

"The fuck!", she cursed, rubbing her pained ass as she quickly got on her feet and ran back to the room to grab Flaca.

* * *

A loud thud was heard from the other side of the door making the two detectives avert their eyes to it. Instantly, Arturo panicked and hit a button under the counter as he threw the rag he was holding at Alex. Alex waved off the rag and got on her feet as he ducked under grabbing a .45. Unfortunately for him, Gonzales already had his gun pointing at him.

"Put you arms in the air!", Gonzales yelled at him as he slowly stood up, raising his hands.

"That's rude, Arturo!", Alex yelled as she swiftly leaped onto the bar and quickly shoved the racks covering the wooden door when the audible siren coming from the door hit her ears. She grabbed the knob but it won't open. She figured that the button Arturo pressed must have been a warning device which also probably triggered the lock of the door.

"Hurry, Vause!", Gonzales growled as she forcefully bumped onto the door even kicking it the process but it won't budged. Alex grabbed her gun from her holster and fired at the knob and kicked open the door. She ran quickly in the narrow hallway to the door at the end of it where the siren was coming from.

* * *

"Flaca!", Max called out as soon as she opened the door when the siren went off. "Fuck!"

"Cops!", someone shouted and instantly, the room was in chaos as everyone panicked and ran to the nearest exit. The room was small and quickly everyone was cramped at the little exit at the corner of the room. Mess everywhere. People grabbing whatever stuff they could grab. It was a disaster.

"Flaca!", Max yelled again. Panicked was an understatement. She was devastated as she tried to look for the Latina in the small room. "Flaca!"

"Max!", she heard her voice from the sea of people trying to get out of the room.

Max quickly ran to her, grabbing her hand.

"We wouldn't make it! Everyone's flooding at the exit!", Flaca panted out as Max bit her bottom lip in distress. At this rate where numerous people trying to get out to a narrow door at the same, Alex would already be here any second and busted them. Max was shaking, while looking around the room for other exits. She couldn't see clearly through the barely lighted room and thick smoke.

_This is so fucked up!_

She held Flaca's hand tightly dragging her to left side of the room where they found Chris rushing passed them to the bar.

"This way!", he called for them as he jumped on the bar and opened the little door behind the rack.

* * *

Alex made it to the door and grabbed the knob, unsurprisingly locked. She positioned her gun and aimed at the knob. She kicked it open, quickly raising her fire-arm for defense. The room was a messed and everyone was hurling to the exit door. She raised her gun up in the air above her head and fired once to warn everyone.

"Raise you fucking hands in the air!", she shouted, pointing her gun to the few people left in the room.

* * *

Piper rounded the corner to a little restaurant near their apartment. She decided to cheer herself up and grab some Chinese before going home.

Honestly, she didn't feel like going home and prompting her sorry ass to bed but seriously, what else she could do now? Polly kicked her out of the store. She's kinda pissed off for that but she knew her best friend was just worried about her and the store because she'd been bitching non-stop and she's aware that they're losing customers for it. But whatever. She had a bad day, people could suck it up.

_Ugh, people._

Piper scoffed walking with heavy footsteps. Sometimes, she felt like she wasn't allowed to have a bad day. People would always give her a hard time making her mood worse. She continued mumbling by herself while mindlessly walking on the street, cursing occasionally under her breath as she glared at the people who looked at her.

_God! This fuckers!_

She continued walking when she passed by an old bar by a narrow alley. It was dusty but there's a good vibe to it. Suddenly, she remembered the times she would go with Alex to bars like this. Alex really like hanging out with older people at this kind of place. She would normally just reason out that at least these people could catch up with her overly matured mind. Piper scoffed at the thought.

**_Matured mind? Apparently, she's aging backwards_**_._

_"__Put your hands in the air!"_, Piper jerked when heard someone shouted from the inside of the bar.

She was surprise for awhile as she heard crashing from the inside.

_"__Hurry, Vause!"_

She heard another shout when suddenly a gun fired echoed from the bar. She looked around, and her eyes caught the sight of her wife's truck parked at the opposite side of the street.

**_What the fuck! Alex!_**

Just like that, Piper was still for a moment. This was the first time she stumbled on a police business and instantly she felt worried and panicked right on the spot. Sure, she was aware that this job could be dangerous, but Alex kept her away from her job not wanting her to worry too much, so she wasn't prepared for this unexpected encounter.

And hearing that gunshot, the crashing sounds and loud yelling, Piper got instantly scared of the situation. It's much more dangerous than being in an international drug cartel. At least at the cartel, you would just do your job, deliver the goods, trade, and that's it. Never did she saw anything violent when she and Alex were at the cartel. But this...

Piper took a step back still in shock. She didn't know what do to or even think when another gunshot echoed inside.

"God! Alex!", Piper rushed to the door, passing by the narrow alley when someone running emerged from it. They bumped into each other as Piper landed flat on her ass. "Oh shit!", Piper groaned at the unfortunate fall rubbing her painful ass.

"Fuck! Seriously? How many times am I suppose to fall today?", she heard a snarky but shaking complain from the person she bumped onto.

"I'm so sorry...", Piper immediately apologize barely catching the face of the person scrunched down and jerking uncontrollably in front of her, also rubbing her butt.

"Max!", some girl also emerging from the alley followed by some guy called out when the girl in front of her looked up as they both gasped surprised to see each other at the same place.

"What the fuck are you doing here—", Piper barely made out her sentence as Max stood up, grabbing her hand and dragging her to the street as an empty cab stopped in front of them.

"Get me out of here!", Max said shaking and scared as she forcefully pushed Piper inside the cab with her, barely hearing the Latina calling her.

Piper hadn't even got the chance to digest what's happening.

* * *

**A/N: Any reactions?**


	14. Chapter 13 : Memory Lane

**A/N: I'm terribly sorry for the confusion in the last chapter. I know it's rushed, but I promise it's for a good cause, well, for the most part actually. I hope you continue reading this, 'cos I still got loads and loads of ideas for this story. I hope you review too, those put me on the right track.**

**My writing style kinda changed a bit. I got inspired by the amazing other writers in this site. Haha. They could be very influential. **

**Ok, enough with my talking, you may proceed with the reading. Made this extra long for all the readers.**

* * *

Chapter 13

_She looks like Diane..._

That was her mind kept on telling her.

_She looks exactly like Diane..._

And somehow she felt like she didn't need her approval.

Max surprisingly dwelled on the thought as she quickly glanced at the blonde flaring and wailing beside her.

Diane was a mother who didn't care much and never talked about personal matters. Sure, she would meet her necessities, give her what she fairly wanted, but still, she didn't give a fuck for what she does—even the cocaine addiction.

_The cocaine addiction._

Curiosity turned escape that eventually became an addiction. That's their secret. Their only connection—in which Max was grateful that Diane kept hidden from Nicky and _Alex._

_Alex..._

Max cringed at the thought of her as her mind took a full turn way back.

Ever since Alex came to her vision, everything she does suddenly had meaning. Everything she chose acquired sense and matter. Like all the pieces suddenly fell in place just perfectly. But for some reason, came along with it was this unknown feeling of dependence and all of a sudden, she felt like she had to always get her permission. Like she needed to always meet her standards and expectations.

But Max didn't mind, but the addiction didn't stop either.

Though she always feels that she was restrained from the freedom she gets from Diane, still she's fine with it. Because unlike Diane, Alex was always there. Always ready to talk to. Always open and accepting of the demons she kept in the deepest part of her core.

_It's the connection..._

Max hadn't had the explanation before about why Alex had such an effect on her and why a simple glance and a single smile could always make her feel warm inside. Maybe because Alex could make her feel special and accepted—something she had never felt from anyone ever. But if anything, it's always been enigmatic. Always been a mystery that her mind kept on digging. It always has been...

...Until the confession.

That fucking confession that she swears she should never had known about—because it's eating her inside. Killing every part of her hopes and what if's that she held all her life. Her most desirable wish; that if only Alex was her _mom..._

_Turns out, she really was her mother..._

And that absolutely changed everything. Suddenly, she wasn't sure what to feel anymore. How she should deal with the overwhelming feeling where she was stuck between bliss and melancholy.

But really, she should be happy, right? She should be grateful that finally her delusional thoughts had certainly come to life.

_Oh, how fucked up could it be?_

But somehow, she wasn't.

And to be honest, Max was mad. Mad at Alex. She's fucking angry at her for being such an asshole who decided to entrust her to some bitch that she thought was her mother for 17 fucking years. She's angry at her because somehow, she wanted to know everything about her but she always felt like she had to put limitations in some way. And she's angry at Alex because if only she stood up as her mother all along, if she been the one taking care of her, maybe, she didn't end up like this. Maybe, she wasn't this fucked up story. Maybe, she was a better person much more worthy of Alex's approval.

Even maybe she wasn't at that bar, craving for drugs and alcohol like a messed up junkie, just to forget how pathetic and cruel her life had been. And maybe she wasn't curled up in this cab (which she had no idea where was going) shaking in a terrible fear and complete devastation like the kid that she was way back when she's locked up by bullies in a confined space of her old locker. Maybe she wasn't with this waspy uptight hysterical blonde—wailing like that stupid siren from the bar bust, by her side.

_Why the fuck did I drag this fucker with me, anyway?_

That's what she'd been asking herself. Actually, she had no fucking clue why. Her mind was fogged up, she was shivering from absolute fear that Alex might catch her in the bust, and her body felt like it needed comfort. And just like that, her body reacted mindlessly and her hand jerked forward to grab the blonde's hand and shoved her to the first cab that stopped at the street.

_But why the fucking blonde?_

She didn't know exactly. She knew that she could've just ran away with Flaca and curled up in her 'warehouse room' until she felt better. She could've just bolted out to god knows where and forget about this whole fucking situation. But why the blonde? Why _Piper?_

_Maybe it's the connection..._

Maybe it's the fact that at that particular moment where she's practically running for her life, Max could only think of one person...

_Alex..._

And for some convenience, Piper was there. All she needed was to look at her and she instantly saw Alex. She wasn't sure why though, but she suddenly felt this urge to be closer to any part of Alex at the moment, even ironically speaking, she was practically running away from her.

_Well, it's Alex..._

It's because Alex was the only person who could make her feel better at any circumstances. Maybe that's why she suddenly craved to be closer to her.

_But why Piper?_

How weird that she wasn't quite sure. Maybe because she looked like Diane and she felt this incredible sense of freedom. Maybe because she's a part of Alex that somehow sent this sudden feeling of comfort. Or maybe she just acted on reflex. But for whatever reason, she felt a little at ease seeing the blonde sitting beside her.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? WHERE ARE TAKING ME, YOU CRAZY FUCKING MORON!"

The forceful punch on her arm gave out the answer.

_She just acted out of reflex._

"Aw! That fucking hurt you insane bitch!", Max growled out in pain rubbing her sore arm.

"Stop this cab! Stop this goddamn cab, you bastard!"

"Don't fucking stop!"

Their yelling earned a weird look and irritated growl from the driver looking through the rear view mirror.

"Just fucking drive or I will burn this fucking car down and I don't care if we will all burn with it alive!", Max threatening yelled out at the driver then pointed her finger at Piper. "You! Shut the fuck up!"

"Are you fucking kidding me? If you don't want me talking then let me out of this fucking cab now!"

"No! Stay!", a harsh but cracking voice escaped her lips which surprised Max but mostly Piper. Suddenly, Max didn't feel like herself anymore. She was shaking in fear and utter desolation.

Piper was bewildered for a moment before she spoke. "What's got in to you? Why are you running from that alley at the bar...", she trailed off at the realization. Her eyes widen at the speculation running through her head. Max stiffened feeling Piper's eyes on her. She brought her knees closer to her body in a defensive manner as she waited for the unstated question. Piper leaned back a little, eyebrows crooked in curiosity. "What the hell are you doing in that bar exactly? In Alex's fucking bust! And you're technically should be at school!"

Max was taken back—aren't sure what to answer. She just looked at Piper still in the same position—where she's buried at the side of the cab's back seat with her knees prompted up on the seat and her arms hugging it for her dear life. "The fuck are you doing roaming around the street like you don't have a fucking job?", she retorted with a question trying to divert the conversation. Luckily for her, Piper took her defensive side.

"Unlike you I have control over my schedules!", Piper answered back scrunching up her nose in pure irritation.

"The unfairness of life...", Piper's fury got into her hearing that sarcastic comment. Little by little, Max was getting back to her usual self and getting in her nerves.

"Yeah! Like how fucking unfair knowing you were my wife's daughter!"—Piper ignored the weird look from the driver—"Then I got kicked out of my own goddamn store because apparently I'm bitching about it. And now I regretted that I took the alternative way home—"

_Home._

"...to order fucking Chinese to console stupid self because now I feel like shit for being an asshole to my wife!", Piper gasped shortly. "And this fear for her job! And the fucking gunshots! And...And...And for heaven's sake I have to stumble on you! Literally!", she pointed a dangerous finger at Max. "And where am I now? In this fucking cab where I had no idea where the fuck is going! For goddamn sake! I don't know what to feel anymore! You two! Alex and you! I swear to god, one of these days! One of these fucking days I will literally just die out of nowhere for all of this insanely and stupid shit you've been throwing at me... "

Piper just couldn't stop. She goes on and on like a fucking machine gun and Max ignored her. She stayed quiet mentally repeating the word.

_Home._

"Where the fuck are we going anyway?", the driver snarled loudly, but seemingly, that didn't stop Piper from talking.

Max finally found herself. She quickly surged forward giving the address of their apartment to the driver.

* * *

"Who the hell named their shit _'stretched marks'_?", Alex snorted inspecting the package of cocaine they confiscated from the bust.

"Probably lost their _minds_?", Alex scoffed at that terrible joke Gonzales just cracked.

"You've been left in that smoke fogged room for too long Gonzales...", she gave him a wide-eyed look earning a playful glare from her partner.

Alex scoffed handing the cocaine to another officer who bagged it for evidence. She turned her head to the bar, feeling aggravated as the offenders from the bust were escorted out to the squad cars parked by the pavement. Gonzales looked at her carefully, sensing the anger radiating from her. She felt a pat on her shoulder as Gonzales smiled at her.

"You did good job, Vause...", he complimented her with a real impressed smile.

"Yeah, you don't need to remind me...", she smugly smirked as Gonzales snorted at the unbelievable display of confidence. She could still be herself even with the fucking issues weighing on her.

They both averted their looks at the bar again when a screaming and swearing Arturo was being escorted out. Alex clenched her jaw in pure revulsion when Arturo gave her a disgusted glare as he was being pushed inside the squad car. Suddenly, Alex felt this intense feeling of anger building up inside her.

_Nobody's gonna get pass me ever again..._

And the feeling of disapproval and looks of judgment from the people in the past crossed her mind. Those looks that told her that she wouldn't be able to do anything right. That no matter how hard she tried, she would always end up to this fucked up asshole they always imagine. Alex mentally scoffed at the thought. Apparently, she proved everyone wrong. Those hypotheses about her didn't come to conclusion.

She's a _changed_ woman.

A changed woman who hit the opposite beyond the bar of everyone's expectations. Who at the moment turning away from the wrong path she took. A proud smile made its way across her face.

_Oh, how I fucking love proving everyone wrong..._

But suddenly, her mind fucked up with the building confidence she just gained and was replaced by a sudden guilt jolting through her nerves. Piper's tear stained face instantly appeared in her thoughts.

_Well that's another story..._

"Now is not the time...", Alex mumbled quietly but enough for Gonzales to hear.

"And when's the right moment, Vause?", she arched her eyebrows at him.

"You don't know what I'm talking about so shut the fuck up Gonzales..."

He scoffed at the attitude and almost whined, his weird Spanish accent showing. "Then, get out of your fucking mind woman and focus on the job!", he gestured his hands at the bar dramatically.

Alex snorted at that funny accent. Normally she would make fun of it but now felt like a different scenario and her mind just wouldn't do this time. Lucky for him or else she wouldn't hear the end of it.

Alex looked at the bar again, doing what she was told. She focused on the job. And as if on cue, a comment from Gonzales about the bust popped out from her mind.

"Hey! You mention in the car that your C.I. called for information about a small operation in a bar right? C'mon, it's never too early for another bust...", she said suggestively as Gonzales looked at her amused. She weirdly looked at him when he chuckled. Impressed.

"Yeah, and I let you drive, assuming you'll take me to the right track...unsurprisingly, you did...", he chuckled as Alex looked at him in a sudden unbelievable expression.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah...You shouldn't be surprised at your skills by now.", he chuckled but lowered his eyes on her carefully. "You earned it, Vause...Go take the day off..."

* * *

As soon as the argument at the front door died down and she opened the door, Max stormed in heading to the kitchen. She started raiding the fridge and the cupboards looking for what she suspected as alcohol. Though angered and felt a lot disoriented at the uncharacteristic brunette the whole damn time they met accidentally at the bar, Piper unbelievably retained the calm facade and just glared at the brunette when she gave up on searching and forcefully sat her agitated ass on the counter stool. She promptly ducked her head on the counter as she growled frustrated.

"If you're looking for the beer, I drank it all last night...", Piper commented lazily, over exhausted at the moment. Max quickly raised her head and rolled her eyes at her.

_Seriously? She had the guts to give me this attitude?_

Piper glared at her walking slowly to the stool across the brunette to rest her exhausted self. An amused look crossed her face when Max suddenly stood up grabbing the pot in the coffee machine to make a fresh batch.

"Wow...You will do anything to get high...Even for caffeine...", Piper incredibly pointed out as Max stiffened before she could grab the black coffee on the counter. "Don't you think I know by now?", Piper raised her eyebrows challengingly at her.

Max gulped before letting out a worried chuckle. "Apparently jumping to conclusions again—''

"Oh, bullshit!", Piper cut her off. "What do you think I would think when I saw you running away from that fucking bar? Running away from Alex's bust!", she lost it again. Temper ruled out of her and she had enough of people lying to her face. Max's mouth ran dry. She was thrown off guard. She couldn't think of anything to counter back at the blonde because she was right. She was fucking right.

_I made a fucking hole to throw myself into..._

Max was in her head again. All the worst scenarios playing in her mind like she was watching a thriller movie. Suddenly, her lips were trembling. Tears' threatening to fall any moment, so she looked away from the blonde's judging one.

"Please...", she don't normally say this word to anyone. Hell, she could count by her fingers how many time she say that word, but this time she did. She did, because she was desperate. "Shut up...", even though the words came out rather sharp, her eyes betrayed her by showing how completely scared she was.

For a moment, Piper complied with her request. For a moment she was silent, letting Max to continue to the task of making coffee. She just eyed her every movement, knowing by the end of it, the brunette would tell the story she'd been curious about. Judging by the sudden change in her demeanor and attitude, any moment she would suddenly break down. In front of her.

_Just like Alex..._

Her heart incredibly softened at the thought. For some reason, she felt the reasonable one; the person in between. The person who came in rescue to resolve a damaging issue in their hands. And somehow, for the first time in a while, she felt a sudden pang of sympathy.

So she waited. Even how fucking awful the passing minutes were becoming torture to her impatient filled mind, still Piper waited. Today, she had been the fucking shock absorber and she decided to remain being that for now. She decided to creep a narrow opening in her heart to hear the brunette out. To hear the fucked up story of the trembling poor kid in front of her.

Piper looked up at Max's eyes when the brunette placed a cup of coffee in front of her. The smell of cinnamon and hazelnut quickly invaded her senses. Max looked away for a second biting at the bottom of her lips. Piper was about to contest her but the brunette beat her to it.

"Drink up...We both know that shit face of yours would be relieved for a while by it...", Max mumbled before sitting once again on the stool. Piper was about to speak up again on how she knew about the coffee but Max cut her off yet again. "I pay attention to details..."

That made Piper's facial features softened up a bit. For a moment, she saw a different side to the brunette. For a second, her eyes were fooling her.

_Just like Alex..._

Piper took the cup of coffee from the counter and raised it to her lips, taking a sip. It tasted a little different, but still she could taste the hint of cinnamon and hazelnut. Still she could taste the little extra Alex was putting in every cup of coffee she's always making for her. She could taste a part of Alex pour out to this simple cup of coffee and she didn't even made it. Max did.

She looked at Max. This time, with her understanding expression. Max had her head hung low. Avoiding her examining stare, but looked a little at ease. She looked a little better than she looked at the bar. A little calmer now.

A little smile tugged at Piper's lips.

_She's nothing different from Alex..._

She's aware how messed up they started out. And how they seemed not stand each other's presence so she never would have thought for a million years that a shitty situation would bring them to this unexpected moment. So she couldn't seem to know how to react to this sudden burst of uncharacteristic attitude from the brunette. At least for her it's uncharacteristic for the little she knew about her.

Then guilt kicked in. Right. She didn't really know her. She hadn't really given Max the time to introduce herself because she jumped to conclusions right after she saw her on the living room fighting over her bags from Alex's gripped.

Piper sighed. Max's words echoed through her brain. She did judge her from the start.

"Maybe now you could explain why you were at that bar?", Piper had the urged to break the silence between them. Max looked up to her and scoffed. "I like you better when you're trembling in fear..."

"I'm not trembling in fear!", Max retorted defensively.

"Say that to your hand holding the spoon to stir your coffee...", Max quickly looked down at her hand and sure it was shaking. She instantly let go of the spoon and dropped her hand to her side.

"That's not even a valid argument!"

"Sure it was!", Piper lightly snorted, smiling a bit after. Max glared at her.

And then they were back to bicker. A different kind of bicker that Piper found a little familiar.

Piper looked at Max thoughtfully before speaking. "You know...This house come up with a rule the moment you stepped in at the front door.", Max looked up to her. "No more secrets...That's the rule..."

Max averted her gaze, looking like she was deliberating something. She released a long sigh and hung her head again, defeated. Piper leaned on the counter, waiting for the brunette to speak up. She opened her ears to her, looking directly at the brunette.

"Speak up kid..."

The next thing Piper knew, she was thrown off guard by the pained, hurtful and saddest words she ever heard from the brunette.

"I don't fucking know what I'm doing...I don't have a fucking clue where to start...Because you don't know...", a pause. "You don't know how fucking hard it is to try to hate someone you have come to love for the most of your life..."

Unexpected is the word to describe Piper's experiences these past few days. Unexpected reactions, predicaments, issues, secrets, encounter. Everything. All scenarios, all plots that even a talented story teller wouldn't come up writing. That no one would have expected normal people would deal with.

And now those fucking words. Those fucking words dragging her to the encounter happened in the past. A little scenario when she herself came up with the same feeling.

"Trust me kid...I know..."

* * *

_It's been a few years and no news of her coming to town. No news of her even from the few mules she recognized and ended up questioning after she swallowed up her ego. No news. No one knew her where about. No single soul knew where the fuck she had been; and that alone almost made her lose her sanity. That made her inside flipped out and her heart shattered. She was worried. She was fucking worried about the tall dark-haired woman she last saw in Paris. In Paris, where they had their biggest fight ever. Where they ended up parting ways and breaking each other's heart._

**_Not quite. I'm the asshole who broke her heart...And mine..._**

_Piper released a long and pained sigh, ducking her head on her arms prompted on the bar's counter. Currently, she was sited yet again on a bar stool drowning her mind with alcohol and saving her slowly breaking heart by the short numbness from the shots. She was on her fifth shot but still, she didn't feel any different. She still felt guilty and it's killing her._

**_Few more shots..._**

_She raised her hand still with her head ducked on the counter to the bartender for another shot. She heard the bartender coming to her, glad that he's actually paying attention._

_"__I don't think you need anymore, woman...", he hesitantly suggested making Piper raised her head to question him._

**_No one fucking tells me I had enough!_**

_"__Are you fucking kidding me? Give me that shot or I will fucking break your neck!", she growled angrily at the bartender giving him the glare that could burn holes on his head._

_The bartender gave her a disapproving look that somewhat reminded her of her fucking mother. Piper cringed in disgust as she shot him an aggressive glare yet again._

_"__You don't fucking get to tell me I had enough!", she pointed a dangerous finger at him as she verbalized her thought a while ago._

_He flinch a little intimidated of the finger suddenly pointed at him as he almost stammered before speaking. "Seriously miss, j-just go home...You're fucking wasted!"_

_"__Oh fuck—", she was about to give him another piece of her mind, but was suddenly startled by someone walking behind her. She immediately regained her composure and about to speak again when suddenly, someone speaking cut her off._

_"__Trust me man, you would like to give her that shot..."_

_Piper's ears perked up at the voice, the bartender forgotten. That voice, she would never forget that low husky voice. That voice that instantly withdrew her from her messed up state._

**_No. Fucking. Way._**

_A little afraid to turn her head to the expectantly sexy owner of the husky voice, Piper remained unmoving from her spot. Her breath itched up to her throat and suddenly, she wasn't believing that this was all real._

**_This is so good to be true._**

_For a moment she believed that her drunk mind was only playing tricks on her, until she came in her sight. The tall and gorgeous dark-haired woman that she'd been looking for, craving for was there, leaning on the bar with that unforgettable teasing smirk playing on her pink plumped lips that she swear she wanted to wiped off her by her mouth the moment her eyes lay on it. She was there, with that same confident demeanour that could instantly send her to a messy state with build up wetness at her aching center. She was there. Alex Vause, was there._

_Piper couldn't even believe it. She just couldn't. And she couldn't even speak. Her pent up anger was suddenly dissipated in the air and her breath was sucked out of her lungs._

_She wanted her. Right on the spot. Right on that fucking bar. But somehow, she was glued on her seat, couldn't able to move._

_"__Someone told me you've been looking for me...", Alex cockily raised her eyebrow, looking at her._

**_God! Those eyebrows! Those fucking eyebrows! Don't make me even start with those fucking eyebrows..._**

_Piper felt a slight nudged on her shoulder and realized she was gawking at the dark-haired woman beside her. Her cheeks instantly reddened and she was suddenly embarrassed that after all these years, Alex still had the same effect on her._

_She heard a muffled chuckle making her glare at the woman. "Bet you're feeling the satisfaction of finally seeing me again, aren't you Pipes?"_

**_Pipes..._**

_Hearing her saying that nickname felt a struck at her heart instantly. She remembered._

_"__Are you even real?", her mouth moved to question without her consent, making her cheeks blushed more, realizing how desperate she sounded like. Alex chuckled once again as she fixated her look at the blonde. Piper gulped immensely, unable to handle the fired up stare from the woman. She tentatively cleared her throat next, earning another low chuckle from Alex._

_"__Are you being nervous, Pipes? Relax...It's just me..."_

**_No, it's you...It really is you..._**

_Alex continued looking at her. Just staring. Her eyes stating another story behind those absolutely breath taking green orbs of her. And Piper stared back. Not looking away even she wanted to. Alex's eyes kept her grounded. Drawn to her amazingly captivating gaze._

_How did she end up from being an infuriated bitch to this mesmerized mess in just a blink of an eye? She didn't even know. But she was certain that she like it. She wanted it. This feeling, she'd been craving for it. For a long, long while._

_But her next move was nothing she had planned. She withdrew from Alex's stare and stood up from the stool, grabbing her jacket on the counter. She saw Alex's surprised face as she turned to leave. Promptly, she felt a hand grabbing her arm._

_"__Hey, where you going?", and she caught it. The underlining longing in her voice. The same longing she had always felt in the past few years. Not long that she felt the aching in her heart. Her mind suddenly shifting back to Paris._

_Then she looked at her. Pained and hurt, still Piper looked at her._

_"__W-What are you even doing here? W-What the fuck are you doing here?"_

_She saw Alex held her breath for a second, taken back at the question she most certainly knew she would be asked upon arrival. Piper looked at her, waiting for an answer. She looked at her as Alex gently pulled her closer to whisper in her ears. To fucking whisper to her ears the words she didn't expect to come up as an answer upon quickly regaining her undying confidence._

_"'__Cos, I've been thinking about it...and I think wanted to take you home with me and use those toys I've bought earlier..."_

**_What the actual fuck?_**

_Piper leaned back to throw her the question but was met by a smug smirked from the dark-haired woman. Suddenly, she was speechless._

_"__What? Are you expecting me say those sappy and pathetic speech you've been dreaming about?", Alex snorted and Piper couldn't believe that she just did._

_"__Fuck you!"_

_"__Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!"_

_"__Dick!"_

_"__That, I don't want..."_

_"__The fuck! Seriously, Alex! What the fuck are you doing here?"_

_"__I don't know, Pipes! Seriously, I don't know...", she was being honest and Piper couldn't imagine how much shit Alex had to suck up just to come up to her. She bit her bottom lip fighting the smile that almost crossed her face. 'Cos that right there made her heart flatter._

_She looked up to Alex, and for god's sake she's still with that fucking smirk as she momentarily bit her bottom lip, taking up what Alex just said a while ago about the toys._

**_There are things that still didn't change..._**

_Like the indescribable feeling in her heart._

_"__So, Alex Vause, right?", she feign uncertainty as Alex amusedly chuckled._

_"__Depends, kid..."_

_Piper fought the smile ready to cross her face._

**_Not yet..._**

_"__Go fuck yourself!", she made it sound like she meant it but her eyes gave her away._

_Alex chuckled at that, levelling her eyes on her. "Eh! Wrong description, kid...", Piper snorted playfully. "Alex Vause don't fuck herself...Alex Vause, fuck a certain WASPy blonde to oblivion until she screams out her name and still begging for more..."_

_Piper's eyes widen at that statement. "God! Still full of yourself, aren't we?", that came out like a whine earning another chuckle from Alex. "If you're missing a part in this conversation, I'll tell you what...we broke up!", she immediately regretted bringing that up when Alex's chuckle instantly died down. Piper bit her bottom lip._

**_Couldn't wait to fuck up until most probably after this goddamn conversation? God! Piper!_**

_Piper uncontrollably back away a little, searching for the light in Alex's eyes. But it was all dark. Unreadable. She flinched at the sight. Alex lowered her head for a second before raising it back up to look at her again, with a sudden determined fire surrounding it. Piper gasped—the only thing she found reasonably doing at the moment._

_"__Piper Chapman, right?", Alex's voice had edge on the side. A good kind of edge that Piper found utterly inviting how she said her name. She faintly nodded at the question she realized she was expected to answer. Alex looked at her, directly to her eyes. "You watch me change that...So you better prepare yourself to get over heels for Alex Vause, again..."_

_Then she was left on the bar. Taken off guard. Eyes not even blinking after that tempting statement. Yes, tempting. Because after tonight, Piper couldn't even imagine how long it would take her to did just that. To fall utterly head over heels for Alex Vause again._

_How fucked up it may sounded, but tonight, she was ready. Ready for the enigma that is Alex Vause. Ready for her to turn her life around yet again. Ready to start a new book that they would be writing based on their fucked up experiences together..._

**_Together..._**

_Oh how Piper loves the sound of that..._

* * *

Her journey to the past was suddenly halted by the sound of the front door and instantly her heart jumped out her chest. The feeling, it could only be caused by one person. One person only.

Smiling promptly, she raised from the stool, oblivious of the instant jolt of fear creeping out of the brunette in front of her. She turned from the counter, preparing to look batshit crazy from how a single trip to memory lane instantly change her indignant mood to a forgiving one. Honestly, at the moment, she didn't care about the questioning look Alex would give her. Or her sudden hit of confusion.

After that bust, the fucking gun shots, the strike of fear and realization, Piper wouldn't wait any longer. She wouldn't resist anymore. She wanted her. She wanted her arms enveloping her. In her comforting arms that would incredibly crash all this built-up emotions.

And she did just that...No hesitation.

Not for long, she was back in Alex's arms again.

"Pipes...", she felt Alex quickly jumped from the touch but she held her tighter. "Hey...Pipes..."

"I'm sorry...Alex...I'm so so sorry...I love you!"

Hearing that settled Alex at the warmth of her wife. She held her tightly close, grinning from ear to ear.

"So, does this means you don't hate me anymore?"

"I never did, honey...I never did..."

The moment could've been longer if not for a phone ringing echoed from the kitchen. Alex jerked at the sound, hearing it wasn't Piper's phone. Piper also startled at the sound, quickly let go of Alex.

"Who the hell was here?"

* * *

**A/N: Drama again next chapter...hmmm**


	15. Chapter 14 : Great Come Back

**A/N: It's getting pretty emotional. I know I should include drama or maybe angst in the description at some point. But I promise, the drama will die down eventually in the next few chapters.**

**Please review. I wanted to know if I'm fucking up with the story (which I know I am) and I would really like to know what you guys think. I really appreciate all the readers. Thank you for the time you're giving to read this story. **

**Anyway, new chapter! Hope I'm being reasonable with how I'm writing up the characters. **

**Now, you may read. :D**

* * *

Chapter 14

_The sound of the roaring engine of a truck entering the driveway woke her up from a deep slumber. Max squinted her eyes at the blinding light from the headlights of the parking truck that surged through her window. She made an effort to raise her arm to cover her heavy eyes and grumbled disapprovingly until the truck was shut off. She sighed immediately catching her labored breathing, closing her eyes when her ears perked up again at the sound of rushing and heavy footsteps climbing up the wooden stairs. She instantly heard her door being opened but was halted by another rushing footsteps from the stairs._

_"Oh, Jesus fuck! Finally you decided to show up!", the footsteps also stopped right at her doorway. "Seriously, one day, that kid will be the death of me!"_

_"Hey! Could you calm down! She's resting for god's sake!", Max's labouring breaths calmed down upon hearing that familiar deep voice that whispered shout stopping her Diane from talking._

_"Fuck! Tell that to my aching body that cleaned up the mess she did yesterday when she tossed up the whole apartment after she found out you weren't showing up to her softball game! God, Alex! You spoiled her too much!", she heard her mother complaint irritated as Alex gasped._

_"Shit! The softball game...I gotta make it up to her..."_

_"You obviously should!", Diane gritted her teeth. "Look at her! Jesus, I bet my ass she caught this fever on purpose!"_

_Max heard Alex snorted. "You bet your ass? Diane, don't! It's the only thing you have."_

_"Shut up!", that made Alex chuckled. Oh, how Max love the sound of that. "Seriously, that kid would do anything just to get your attention! She's such an attention seeker just like you!"_

_Max heard Alex sighed and her mother's comment embarrassed her making her almost got up from her bed but she couldn't move. _

**_Stupid fever!_**

_"Honestly, Diane, I'm very grateful for you to do this...", there's softness in Alex's voice._

_Diane scoffed. "The things I do for you, motherfucker...be grateful for Nichols too for satisfying my _needs_ and the drug money that's keeping us both alive at this moment!"_

**_Drug money?_**

_"Diane! Shut up! Never mention that again, fuck's sake!", panic was audible in Alex's tone._

_"Why? Are you feeling guilty?", the remark sounded smug. "You know, detective Alex Vause sounds kinda hot but that's not giving you much! And I don't remember you settling for anything less! Why won't you go back into **business**? You sure know how to multi-task, anyway...", there's an underlining tone in Diane's voice that Max couldn't decipher but it sure got into Alex's nerves evident in her slightly raised voice. _

_"God, Diane! Would you stop it! I'm not talking about that with you right now while the kid's a few feet away! Jesus!", Max heard the door being closed but was halted forcefully to stop it from closing._

_"You're not giving me enough for child support! How are you expecting me to raise that kid? Ofcourse, I have to use what Nichols' paying me, which you know exactly how she earned!"_

_Max heard Alex gasped and the footstep turning to enter inside her room. She felt a pair of eyes on her but Max didn't open her eyes just yet._

**_Drug money? Child support?_**

_Her young and innocent mind couldn't digest that information yet. Plus, she had a fever and this massive headache, but she knew she heard her mother right and clear. _

_"I know! Stop reminding me about that! I feel bad enough about myself, thank you very much!", Max caught the little crack of Alex's voice hidden behind that sarcastic comment. _

_It's something she had learned about through the years she spent time with the woman. She could easily see through her, like Alex was opening a side only for her to see. It elated her really, but at this particular moment, hearing that crack worries her about the woman. _

_"Just...Just go Diane, I got this...", Alex quietly dismissed Diane and Max could imagine her mother rolling her eyes as always. She heard Diane mumbled about Alex should have got her nine fucking years ago but Alex ignored the comment and Max heard footsteps turning to leave her doorway._

_There was a moment of silence before Max heard the creaking of the wooden floor. She felt the side of her bed dipped and a hand gently pressed on her forehead. Max heard a worried and deep sigh as Alex slowly caressed her face._

_"I'm here, kid...I'm here..."_

_That statement was true for a few months, until Alex disappeared on her again in the next couple of years._

* * *

Now, she had her attention again. She had drawn Alex's attention on her once again; but in a wrong and utterly dreadful way. And the look she's giving her, the look she never wished Alex to give her, was there right before her eyes.

The unspoken sense of disappointment and disapproval was visible to her eyes.

Honestly, she expected Alex to come home late due to the bust so she wasn't expecting to see her at this moment. Max hadn't thought of any plan yet on how to deal with situation and everything felt so rushed and overwhelming. She wasn't prepared for this.

Max turned her head away from Alex and tried to drift back to the sudden trigger of memory awhile ago.

Max was young back then but now she's most certainly aware what that conversation was about. The drug money, Nichol's line of job, the story behind the child support and Diane; she'd known about that now. Those things came across her mind as she looked at Alex's questioning and sudden disappointed face that appeared at the entrance of the kitchen upon seeing her. Max stiffened and her mouth ran dry witnessing that look. All the fear, the panic, the devastation she felt from the bar bust came rushing to her system again. And for the nth time this morning, her heart caught up her throat and she couldn't find any words to say.

"What are you doing here?", Alex tried to even out her tone but Max could sense her dislike of the situation that made her immediately felt guilty. At moments like this, she hated how she could read Alex's expressions.

Max opened her mouth to speak but closed it again, lowering her head and avoiding Alex's intense gaze. She couldn't bear herself to look at the woman without feeling her stomach lurched in disgust. Disgust about herself for doing awful things—she's aware could make Alex lose her affection towards her, but still she did.

_What the hell am I thinking doing drugs! _Max momentarily kicked herself.

Alex took a huge air to ask again but was halted upon hearing footsteps behind her. Grateful for the distraction, Max saw Piper entered the kitchen as well, finally catching up to Alex. She slightly raised her head and caught Piper's alerted eyes for a brief moment.

Piper gasped averting her eyes to look at Alex. "Alex—"

"What the fuck are you doing here?", Alex cut Piper off as she threw the hoarse question at Max.

Max bit her trembling lips lowering her head further, feeling the weight of Alex's intense eyes. Her mind was rushing to find anything to say.

Just anything.

She didn't care if her mind could only come up with a joke about ditching her class because she hated her History teacher or a comment about Alex coming home early; anything. Just anything, but all the things she could think of always end up worst in her mind. Her mind, it's jumbled, it's not functioning at the moment and all she could do was to kick her foot momentarily.

_Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!_

"Max!", she jolted hearing Alex raised her voice at her and she almost blurted out the truth but surprised to hear someone talk from behind Alex. Max shifted her look to the blonde as she nervously did something Max would have never thought she would do at the moment.

"I saw her at the coffee shop across my store and I brought her home!", both Alex and Max looked at her, surprised at her sudden talking. Piper leaned back a little when she met Alex's eyes but regained her composure immediately and looked at Max.

_What the fuck is she talking about? _Max questioningly looked at Piper, demanding a reason about the sudden outburst that they both know wasn't true at all. Piper averted her look to Alex and acted quite believable.

"I brought her home with me to scold her and asked her why she's ditching school and she just told me that she didn't get to have her coffee 'cos we were having our _lovers' quarrel_ at the kitchen this morning!", Max wasn't sure how she immediately thought of that lie and why she had to lie to Alex's face but she felt relieved at for a moment. "God! Alex! Could you believe that kid? Seriously!", Max saw her slightly turned to her side raising her hand to her head effectively dodging Alex's query look and hiding her anxious face. She saw Piper glanced at her from the corner of her eyes and she gave out the same questioning look Alex had. Piper bit her bottom lip, probably stopping herself to speak any further.

"Coffee shop?", Alex directed her question at Max who bit her tongue, stopping herself to speak. Max glanced shortly at Piper who's having a hard time catching her breath caused by the thick and suffocating air that surrounded the kitchen at the moment. She didn't know why Piper's doing this and she's immediately felt annoyed at her for covering her ass but at the same time relieved that she's doing this. At least, it could buy her some time to think of something more coherent to say about the situation.

So Max didn't answer. She just glanced at Alex and blankly looked at Piper.

She saw Alex momentarily clenched her jaw, darting a look at both of them, scrutinizing any unnecessary and suspicious movement but eventually given up upon hearing Piper's irritated grunt. Max rolled her eyes; back in character and that seemed to satisfy her deliberation. Alex cleared her throat catching both their attention again as she looked directly back at Max with a doubtful expression. She spoke almost immediately cutting Max off who was about to argue, feeling the sudden guilt kicked in.

"You! Get your ass to my truck! I'm sending you back to school!", Alex pointed her forefinger at Max, not expecting to hear any argument from her since it's only after lunch and she could still catch the afternoon classes. Alex turned back to leave the kitchen after giving a brief look at Piper who gave her a slight nod.

Max was confused and surprised for a moment. She looked at Piper who just released a huge sigh of relief.

_She just let it go that quickly? This is so not like Alex._

When the front door opened and Alex's truck instantly roared back to life, Max met Piper's uneasy eyes. She stood up grabbing her school bag on the kitchen counter and walked to the blonde stopping right in front of her, eyes still on her.

"No more secrets, huh? Yeah, I gathered...", Piper glared at the brunette upon catching the sarcasm in that comment.

"I think the words you are looking for are 'thank you'?", she retorted back the sarcasm earning a snort from the teenager.

"Why? For saving my ass? Might as well eat my own shit...", Max gave her a mocking chuckle shaking her head. Honestly, she was thankful for the save, but she wouldn't admit that to Piper. Yes, she felt bad getting her in this mess, and she wasn't sure why she had lied to Alex for her but she wouldn't give Piper the satisfaction just yet. "I could have told her the truth but you decided to dig a hole for yourself...and don't expect me to feel guilty about it..."

"Did you saw yourself back there? You're a mess!"

"And you decided to clean up yourself? For what, exactly?"

Piper was taken back for a moment, didn't know what to say for why she did what she did, honestly. She unconsciously gulped staring back at Max's intuitive gaze. She saw her smirked and just like that she blurted out an almost incoherent answer.

"Well, I did not just do that for you! W-We just...We had just mended, a-awhile ago! I just forgave her! I don't want to burden her with your issues just yet!", that earned another snort from the brunette which got into Piper's nerves instantly.

"Burden her?", another sarcastic question. "Or you just want to feel good about yourself? You felt bad because you made Alex felt bad about hers, so now you think you're doing her a favour, keeping her ass up in cloud nine today only to hurt her tomorrow! Fuck! Yeah, you know what, I get it...this is payback for the 17 fucking years she left you out in the dark, and now you're planning to do the same for the next 17 years! This isn't always about you, blondie! This is our business. _My _business! So stop butting in!", she wanted to push Piper's buttons to draw out some reasoning from her.

"Shut up!", and just like that, the sympathy and pity Piper had for the brunette was thrown outside the window. That bluntness (that Piper swears Max got from Alex who at the moment honking out the horns of her truck) could instantly irritate her. "This doesn't revolve around you either! You are the main fucking reason why we are in this mess! So you don't have the right to give me that fucking lecture!"

"Like _you_ have the right to play this situation either!", Max gnarled as Piper intensify her glare at her. "You just made the situation worst! I could have told her the truth! This could have been over, but you took away that moment by lying to Alex! You lied to Alex!"

Piper scrunched up her nose growling back at Max. "Then why didn't you tell her the truth!"

"Because you fucking butt in!"

"You could have object!"

"You could have shut up!"

The honking of Alex's truck stopped the argument before it got worse. Piper raised her hand to her head. The situation was getting into her. Why the fuck did she lied to Alex?

In her mind, she kept convincing herself that this was for Alex's own good. That she did what she did because she didn't want to burden Alex with the situation just yet. She didn't want her to get hurt again just yet.

After what Piper did, after she shut her off. She knew Alex might be managing to cover that part up by acting all badass, but Piper could see through her. Alex was hurt. She's hurt by feeling guilty about a mistake she didn't decide by herself. Alex was hurt by hurting her. So now, Piper wanted to spare Alex the pain for awhile until she could see that she could take it, because this is too much.

Knowing that your daughter's an addict and you almost caught her in a bust is too much. It would break Alex. It could break their mother-daughter bond, and Piper knows that it would not be good, especially for Alex. She's could tell that Alex cares and loves this self-absorbed junky and knowing what the brunette did could waver her feelings at least. Though it would be a lie if Piper would say that she didn't want that to happen, but she also wouldn't want to see Alex breaking apart again in front of her. She didn't want that. She _never _wanted that. Even if it's a great comeback for the pain Alex had caused her still, Piper couldn't imagine Alex mortified and devastated in front of her. She wouldn't bear to witness that. It's an awful sight.

Piper was never good in dealing with emotional chaos and this had proven that. This sudden rational thinking had proven that.

Lying to Alex about her daughter's misdeeds and addiction, leaving her out for awhile is not the best choice to make but at least not the worst.

Piper released a huge air from her lungs to calm her already stress out body. This might be how Alex felt when she had to hide Max from her. This might be what Alex had kept telling herself when she had to lie to her about her made-up urgent undercovers so she could check on Max once in awhile. The guilt, the turmoil in her stomach, the weight on her shoulder—this might be how it felt like to lie and hide something to the person you most care about just to not hurt her and made her feel better.

_This might be what grandmother was always telling me. _

**_Sometimes it's not a matter of right and wrong. It's about making a choice that will cause the least amount of pain to others, keeping things to yourself, sitting on information and feelings and living with your secrets._**

But Piper could have just shut up. She could just have. But she lied to her. She lied to Alex.

Max studied Piper's deliberating face. She was lost in her own thoughts again, maybe thinking of an awful excuse about the situation. Instinctively, a small smile played on Max's lips. Piper's jolt up reactions and sudden unthought-of deeds could be put up in her advantage once in awhile. Somehow, she felt relieved that Piper lied no matter what the reason behind it. Her smile grew bigger.

Now she had another blonde keeping her secrets from Alex.

"I know...", Max quietly said catching Piper's attention again. "We just...We both just want to spare her the hurt...or in your case, you just wanted a fucking hot make-up sex...but...", Piper snapped her wide-eyed look at her so she gave her a knowing smirk that she knew that blonde literally wanted to rip off her face. She started walking out of the kitchen but stopped momentarily to look back at Piper. "You are selfish...", there's a quick pause and Piper glared at her. "But I have to admit, that wasn't a bad trait afterall..."

Piper raised her eyebrows at that as Max walked past her with a little smile on her face. She turned to look at Max's exiting back confused at the sudden change of mood of the brunette. She looked at her until she could no longer see her. The front door opened and shut as Piper was left in the middle of the kitchen contemplating what just happen. And for an odd reason, a small smile made itself known on Piper's face and a little burden was lifted off her shoulder.

That must be the closest thing for a 'thank you' in Max's book and somehow she found a reason for lying to Alex. She had saved a relationship for awhile and that was not a bad feeling afterall. And she was rewarded by a small smile from the brunette (she initially hated so much) and she never would have thought that simple gesture would made her feel a little better about herself.

_Just like Alex..._

Piper let the smile played on her face until reality kicked in. The aftermath of her lying suddenly weighed on her shoulders. She gritted her teeth as she walked to the counter stool to sit her suddenly distracted self. She heard Alex's truck getting out of the driveway instantly as eyes fell on the cup of coffee still sitting on the counter. And for a moment, Max's words daunt her.

_"...you decided to dig a hole for yourself..."_

Piper raised both her hands to her head feeling suddenly stressed out from the situation that she just worsen. She grunted in discomfort keeping up with the anxious feeling inside her. For a short moment, her emotions swung from good to bad.

_God! Another dark-haired asshole got into me! I let another dark-haired asshole ruin me!_

"Stupid! Stupid, stupid! Piper! Why do you have to be this stupid!", she repeatedly hit the counter by her hand wishing it's that easy to wreck the guilt and bad feeling building up inside her. She leaned back a little, her eyes falling again on the cup of coffee on the counter.

Piper's face tensed up as she glared at the cup dangerously. She shoved the cup forcefully making it shatter on the floor and raised her hands again on her head, shielding her ears from the loud clatter. The clatter caused her to regain some sense, and as if on cue, her mind brought up a name she shamefully hadn't thought the whole day. Piper stiffened and the guilt she felt doubled up.

**_Andy..._**

"Oh, Jesus fuck...", Piper breathlessly mumbled out, her eyes widen at the thought and her mother instincts jolted in.

_Andy. _She hadn't thought of her daughter the whole fucking morning. She got fed up by all the unexpected happenings this morning but she knew it wasn't any good excuse to not even check on daughter before she went to school.

"Shit! Did she even go to school?", Piper rushed to the living room in searched of her phone in her bags (that she threw on the couch the moment she entered the apartment) to call Alex and ask her to check on their daughter. "Oh, god!", she muttered anxiously as she hovered her finger on the call bottom.

_"You are selfish..."_

Max's last words echoed through her head.

Piper clenched her jaw, waiting for Alex to pick up. "For fuck's sake! I proved another dark-haired asshole right!"

* * *

The ride to school was all silence minus the phone call from Piper that Alex just got off from. She almost couldn't put together what Piper just said over the phone due to her usual rambling but she got her tone. She was worried about Andy.

Ofcourse, Alex's worried too, but she had decided that she would not involve her blonde daughter in the situation just yet. She needed to let the mess settled for some time before she broke it up to Andy. Dealing with Andy's freaking out and the emotional complications that came along with it would be too much to handle. Actually, what happened in the past 12-hours was already too much for Alex and she had enough to deal with.

Alex sighed and spared a quick glance at her brunette daughter sitting beside her on the passenger seat. Confusion got into her as she saw Max biting her bottom lip trying to hide a smile. It's odd, knowing that she just saw Max devastated in the kitchen and now she's smiling like she just saw something amusing along the way. Alex weirdly looked at her before focusing on the road again.

_What happened back there?_

"Coffee shop? Really, Max?", Alex cautiously asked, trying to strike up a conversation. Max jerked uncomfortably (like she'd been caught in class reading a nude magazine) turning her head towards the truck window and avoiding Alex's sudden confused expression. "You hated that place..."

Max didn't answer but Alex decided to push on a little. "Why? You're embarrassed now? Suddenly you don't want to hear how you spilled a cup of coffee on the girl you had a _hots_ for over a year...", Alex chuckled a little, oblivious of the sudden fear that jolted through Max's stomach.

"Shut up, Alex! I don't want to talk about it...", it's hard to hide the fear that emerged through her, but Max had managed to hide the quivering of her lips by acting like the passersby she could see from the truck window amused her.

Maybe Piper's right afterall, Max couldn't say the truth to Alex face just yet.

"Oh, c'mon now, kid! It's been a few years! And judging by your swinging by a coffee shop tells me you already moved on from that...It's a really fun story to tell...C'mon!", Alex decided to tease her more and the delight on her tone made Max want to throw up. It's something that would definitely change once Alex known about the bust.

_Oh, fuck me!_

"Will you just drive? Jesus!", Alex must had mistaken her shaking and uneven tone as embarrassment because she chuckled after Max's sentence, but what Alex didn't know was Max's now troubled by the things she couldn't get out.

"Jeez...would you just tell me you're having another girl-crush melt down."

"No!"

"Then why are you in that coffee shop instead of going to school?"

Air caught up in Max's throat. She shut her eyes tightly before looking back at Alex. "Then why are you acting like there's nothing wrong between us? You think you could just tease me out of this?"

Alex was taken back hearing that loaded question. Yes, she's aware that they were not in good terms but she's trying in hell to get that over and she knew it would never be that easy and Max was rubbing it off to her face. Alex bit her inner cheek, contemplating what to reply back to her daughter.

"I told you I was sorry!"

"And I can't do shit with 'I'm sorry'! You got me into this mess and I'm fucked up!"

"What do you want me to do? C'mon, kid...Let's make it easier this way...I'll be the best mom from now on..."

"You know that's not that easy to let this go!"

"Yes! But you couldn't just shut me off either! And what's the deal with Piper?"

Max stiffened. She didn't want to go to that conversation just yet. "Alex, please..."

"I just wanted to hear the whole story...I know something's up..."

Maybe Max was wrong. Alex might have caught her fear-tone awhile ago.

"Trust me...you wouldn't want to hear about it..."

Alex fought the urge to look at Max after that statement. She knew just by a quick glance at her, she would already be filled with the story behind the coffee shop encounter, and somehow she was a little scared about it. At times like this, Alex hated that she could read her daughter like an open book.

"So you will decide to shut your mouth forever?", Alex even out her tone.

"I don't know about forever...but for awhile..."

Another over-whelming silence filled the truck. As much as Alex wanted to push Max further, her guts were telling her not to. Something tells her the information is it not any good and it worries her to know. And the fact that they were not in good terms at the moment made it harder to crack up Max, so she decided to cut her some slack.

They made it to the school grounds and both seemed not to know what to do next. Max awkwardly shifted from her seat, clutching her bag closer to her body. She slowly looked at Alex who fumbled with her keys from the ignition and cleared out her throat.

"H-Hey...You want me to check up on her? I could get back here in a minute...Spare you an awful amount of time to look for her...", Max awkwardly offered and Alex looked at her.

"No...I think it's best if I do it myself...", Alex smiled a little, thankful for the offer.

"You sure you wanna face her? You might get bombarded with questions..."

"I'm already bombarded with questions, kid. But thanks, anyway...", that sad smile that Alex gave her made Max's heart ached. She looked away, trying to get the truck door opened faster by her trembling hand.

Max got off the truck with a heavy heart in her chest. She heard Alex's door side opened right after hers, but she didn't look back. She walked briskly, ran even, trying to get out of the parking lot as fast as she could. She could feel Alex's eyes on her and she felt the urge to ran back to her and tell her the truth no matter how hard it is to take, but her feet won't stop running away.

It's not about how scared she was to face Alex's rage and anger. It's about how scared she was to lose their _connection_.

How mad she was to herself right now. How mad she was that didn't think about this all the way through before she gave in to addiction when she was craving for Alex's attention in the years she wasn't there. And how pathetic she looked right now that she still craved for it.

Max hated herself for being so weak.

And that was proven by her shaking feet that kept on running out of the situation.

* * *

**A/N: Please review.**


	16. Chapter 15 : Empty Baggy

**A/N: Thank you to the Guests who never fail to review every chapter. I'm truly grateful fo the support. :)**

**Please continue with the reviews! It keeps me going! :)**

**Cheers!**

* * *

Chapter 15

Alex went straight to the faculty room to know what Andy's schedule is for today. Her daughter's Literature teacher was the one to inform her that Andy might be in the third floor waiting for him since he'd be her next class. Alex thanked him and went straight to the third floor where she found Andy seated on the top step of the third floor stairs by herself. Alex halted at the bottom step of the stairs for a second, surprised to see her daughter face-palmed, elbows prompted on her knees, sulking awfully. But Andy didn't seem to notice her presence due to the few students flooding the stairs, trying to make it to their respective classes. Alex unconsciously cleared her throat, climbing the stairs slowly and Andy was alerted, face surprised as she finally noticed her when she was two steps closer to her.

"Alex!", Andy stood up immediately letting go of her backpack, throwing her arms on Alex, almost knocking her off down the stairs. Alex slightly jerked surprised at her daughter's sudden reaction upon seeing her, but Alex returned the hug anyway.

Alex smiled in the hug. Andy was always the sweetest; it's what Alex missed the most when they started to drift apart when her job became demanding. Fortunately, that had been resolved after the boyfriend-issue in which Alex was aware that Max had played a part but wasn't sure what. Alex's smile grew bigger. These two _kids_ are one of the best she ever had.

"Hey, kid. I told you to call me 'momma' or 'mommy' in public...", Alex playfully lectured, but really she didn't mind Andy calling her by her name. She chuckled when Andy smacked her shoulder, still clinging to her tightly. Alex smiled understanding the reaction.

"I told you before; I won't call you 'mommy' once you start a fight with my _mom._", Andy grumpily reminded which made Alex chuckled more.

"God! You are spoiled...", Alex dramatically sighed when she finally let go.

"Am not!", her daughter squeaked defensively, scrunching up her nose which Alex found so adorable.

_God, she's so much like Piper._

"Pretty sure you are...", Alex stifled a playful laugh when Andy smacked her arm this time.

_Yes, the sweetest._

"Alex—", she gave Andy a look which made Andy unbelievably raised her eyebrows. "Wha—Ok, fine!", her daughter's adorable whine made her chuckle more. "Momma...", Andy stretched out the word. "Why are you here?", her daughter looked at her carefully almost perplexed to see her.

"You're _mom_", Alex stretched out the word playfully earning a glare from Andy. "...wants me to check on you. Since—"

"Yes...I know. The fight.", Andy cut her off, sighing inwardly for a second then looked up to her, suddenly worried. "Hey, how are you two? Are you fine now? Have you talked to her? Oh, yeah...dumb question. Ofcourse, you talked. What else would you be doing here if she hadn't told you to check on me..."

_Her usual rambling. Sweet. _Alex looked at her daughter amusedly smiling at her.

"And I see that you're fine as well, minus the sulking earlier...", Alex trailed off before speaking again. "Hey, what are you doing on the stairs anyway? Where's your boyfriend?", Alex asked curiously.

Andy looked passed Alex as if searching for someone when she mindlessly blurted out. "I asked him to look for Max—", she stopped immediately as her eyes went wide like she just said something she wasn't supposed to. Alex creased her eyebrows at that, suddenly curious about the reaction.

"What? Why would you ask him to look for Max?", Alex asked a little surprised as Andy awkwardly smiled at her.

"Wha—Nothing! Just...I wanna check up on her...you know, make sure she's not getting into trouble...", Alex looked at her daughter suspiciously. She instantly didn't like how she's sounding right now.

"Andy...", she said warningly when Andy flinched a little.

"Seriously, Alex—Momma...I was just..."

"Andy..."

Andy bit her bottom lip, preventing herself to speak out when her eyes averted looking passed Alex as her eyes abruptly apprised making Alex turned her head to look behind her and saw Andy's teacher coming up the stairs.

"Mr. Anderson!", Andy greeted her teacher, seemed a lot relieved finding an excuse from the situation. Mr. Anderson smiled at both of them walking to his class. Alex smiled at him a little and looked back at Andy as she was suddenly surprised when her daughter quickly kissed her cheek, picking up her backpack on the step of the stairs. "I have to go to class, Al. I'll see you...", she turned to leave but Alex grabbed her arm fast.

"Wait, you little squirt...", Alex whispered haltingly as she called Andy's teacher who turned to look at her smiling. "Hey! Mr. Anderson! Mind if I talk with my daughter for a minute?", she charmingly smiled at him.

"No, not at all detective...Take your time.", he then looked at Andy, thoughtfully. "I'll see you in awhile, Ms. Vause..."

Andy fake smiled at him and turned eyes wide looking at Alex as if visually saying—'_Seriously?'_. Alex snorted after letting go of Andy's arm as Andy dropped her backpack on the step. "Ms. Vause? Well, there goes my high school days..."

"Shut up!", Andy glared at her, rubbing her arm that Alex grabbed awhile ago. She sighed and looked back at Alex. "Seriously, Al! It's nothing...I just want to ask Max a few questions is all..."

"What questions?", Alex pushed on making Andy sighed audibly turning her body to the side.

"God!", Andy stressfully groaned. "You really wouldn't let me go until I tell you a story, are you?"

"No."

Andy thinned her lips and raised her hands to her head. She stayed like that for a moment before facing Alex again. Alex sensed the nervousness and uneasiness coming from her daughter and she immediately disliked the situation.

_What would she ask Max? _Alex snorted at the thought. _This nosy kid..._

"Alex...I-I don't want this to come from me...", Andy paused, eyes wavering. "Kurt told me that it was Max who pushed him to come to our apartment for last night's dinner, and I feel like I owed her much. I know she just did that so we could be fair, but as much as I don't like how that sounds, I feel like I owed her for saving my relationship, so..."

"Andy, just get to the point...", Alex demanded.

"Alex...", Andy directly looked at her. She looked incredibly burdened. "Y-You...You got to talk to Max..."

Alex creased her eyebrows, getting confused and greatly worried at her daughter's notion right now. "Why?"

"J-Just talk to her, Al! Ask her! I-I told you I don't want this coming from me!", Andy looked very anxious now, making Alex want to ask more.

"Just tell me why, Andy! Goddamnit!"

"Alex...I don't—"

"Andy!"

"I told you I—"

"As much as I want to talk to her, I can't right now, Andy...", Alex cut her off. Her own share of anxiety was slightly showing.

Well, it's true though. Max won't talk to her right now. She wouldn't open up right now. Now, that she's obviously upset. Upset of something that Alex was certain that she caused.

Andy bemusedly looked at her for a moment through the corner of her eyes before she turned her head and mumbled to herself. Barely catching what her daughter said, Alex asked her.

"What was that?", Andy faced her shortly.

"Why wouldn't she talk to you? What happened at the living room?"

Alex was taken back for a moment, remembering what happened in the living room last night. She looked back at Andy, asking her what she knows.

"I didn't hear anything, Al...I just assumed since...since...", Alex raised her eyebrows at that as Andy rolled her eyes in frustration. "God! How do you do this?"

"Do what, kid?"

"How can you push someone to talk for your benefit?", Andy looked at her frustrated.

Alex gulped and looked away suddenly sorry for treating Andy as if she was a detainee in question, minus the hanging light bulb and sweaty armchair. She slowly averted her eyes on her daughter, looking at her cautiously.

"Look, kid...I'm sorry but I—"

"I couldn't sleep last night...", Andy cut her off, avoiding eye contact. Alex leaned back a little, giving Andy her breathing space.

_Ofcourse, who could sleep when your parents are yelling at each other from across your room... _Alex sighed inwardly.

"I-I try to check on mom...", Andy continued.

_Thoughtful. _Alex had a lot to say, but she kept her comments to herself, not wanting to deter Andy from speaking.

_"__..._then I heard her yelling, cursing from your room, and I don't know what to do...", she paused for a second, gasping for air. Alex looked at her carefully. "I decided to check on you next...", Andy looked at her shortly and Alex suddenly felt guilty. "...but when I was about to go downstairs, I heard footsteps from the stairs, so I went back to my room.", another paused. Alex bit her bottom lip, avoiding herself from interjecting. "I heard banging of a door...Then mom shouting at you, and another bang of the door...", Alex reached her daughter's arm and comfortingly rubbed it pushing her to speak. She bit her lips, still avoiding Alex's eyes.

"I tried to sleep...I closed my eyes...for a few minutes. Then there's a banging sound again. Loud.", she motioned her arms to emphasized the action. "So I went out of my room to check it out...Mom seemed not to mind the banging at all. I slightly opened your bedroom door then...then...I saw her sprawled on the bed, eyes stained with tears. Bottles on the floor. She didn't seem to notice me either...", Andy hung her head, Alex lightly squeezed her daughter's arm to tell her she's there. "I-I...I couldn't take to see her like that...", air caught up in Andy's throat as Alex tried to take her daughter in her arms but Andy swiftly dodged it. She turned to her side and lifted her right hand to squeeze her left arm to calm herself. Alex sadly sighed focusing her eyes on her daughter.

"Then the banging repeated...and repeated...And I figured it was coming from Max's room..."

Andy stopped as Alex slightly gasped, getting worried every second. She caught Andy's eyes shortly but her daughter withdrew her eyes immediately. Alex didn't object when Andy waved her hand when she tried to reach her arm again and she didn't try to comment or ask her, either. She just let Andy to take her time to collect herself for a moment, calming her quivering lips and utterly tensed body. Alex knew if she talked now, Andy would only hold back her thoughts and Alex didn't want that. Interrupting Andy when she's on her talking mode would only cause her daughter to reconsider spilling and Alex wanted her to speak it out. The whole situation was making her worried.

Alex looked at her daughter apologetically, suddenly, all the weight on her shoulders were back.

"Then this morning...", Andy continued. "I tried to check Max in her room, but she's gone already...", her eyebrows creased. "Her room was a mess! All her clothes scattered everywhere, the frames, the study table...everything...Then...Then...", a pause.

Andy sighed audibly. She turned her back at Alex and slowly sat down on the steps. She grabbed her backpack and hugged it tightly before tugging at the zipper of the front pocket. Alex curiously looked at her when Andy reached through her backpack and searched through her things for awhile. Alex just looked at her the entire moment, putting the details together in her head, contemplating if she should sat down beside her daughter and put her arm on her shoulder or just stood there waiting like an idiot. Alex settled for the latter.

Andy slightly jerked when she seemed to finally found what she's looking for. She looked up to Alex and exhaled, gathering up all her courage.

"Al, technically, I didn't say anything, alright? Well, since I already told you enough...", Alex just shrugged earning a nervous whine from her daughter. "Alex!"

"Ok, ok...Jesus...", she promptly nodded as Andy sighed again, taking a moment before she brought up her hand, clenching a small zip-lock bag.

Alex eyes inspect the bag from her daughter's hand then looked up to her.

"That is?", she raised her eyebrows at her daughter questioningly.

"I told you...enough talking, okay?", Andy kept her gaze before reaching out the zip-lock to her.

"But, what am I going to do with this? Where did you got this anyway?", Alex took the material from her daughter and closely inspected it. Andy just shrugged, lifting herself from the steps, grabbing her backpack and hanging it on her shoulder.

"You're a detective, Al. Go figure...", she said, as Alex returned her focus on the small zip-lock bag.

Alex opened the small plastic material in her hand and slightly prompted her nose inside. Andy was suddenly alerted, swatting her hand.

"Al! Don't do that!", Alex looked at Andy confused as a thought popped out of her head.

_Fuck!_

She looked at her daughter eyed-wide, finally connecting the dots. Andy held her eyes, and then shortly looked down on the plastic material in Alex's hand.

"Now, I feel like shit for bringing this up...", Andy quietly said.

Alex eyed the material as well, then looked up to Andy. She slowly lifted her other hand and squeezed her daughter's arm lightly.

"Go to class, kid..."

Alex stayed on the steps of the stairs until Andy was gone from her sight. Her jaw clenched as her hand tightly clutched the small plastic zip-lock bag in her hand.

Shock, fear and worry shot through her.

_This can't be happening..._

* * *

She's freaking out. She's fucking freaking out! Alex Vause was never one to just freak out, but right now she was.

Clenching the tiny zip-lock bag in her hands, she rushed to the _cop shop_, took the elevator to the basement where the lab was in. Her mind was raging and her heart was in chaos. What the fuck just happened? What the fuck is she doing? She knew exactly what the zip-lock bag was; she just saw it. She just fucking saw a similar one from the bust, but deep inside she didn't want to believe it. She wanted confirmation. She needed a confirmation because she didn't want to believe her fucking instincts right now. She wanted proof. Any proof that she was wrong.

Even though it's a huge fucking blow to her stuck-up condescending guts, it'll do. It'll be a huge relief.

Alex had never wanted to be proven wrong so much right now.

Alex grab the lever of the huge glass door of the lab and immediately searching for the little freckled-face nerd who always gave her favors and do her confidential drug-analyses. Ofcourse, this should be done in secret. If her guts' right, and this particular zip-lock bag was what she thought was, then her daughter would be in trouble. Max would be in trouble, and she as well. She hadn't thought of what to do if the scenarios in her head turned out right and she certainly didn't want to go there, so she held on to the thought that she's just freaking out right now.

_This is just a misunderstanding. This couldn't be right. Fuck! _Alex kept telling herself.

Alex turned her head left and right, through the rushing lab coats around the lab. It's a busy day, Alex knew that, since the bust just happened this morning and everyone was on their respective jobs to work out the investigation. Alex hissed. What the hell was she thinking taking the day off? The station needed her!

_If I had just stuck my ass in the station, then I might not be in this fucking situation! _Alex sighed inwardly.

Sometimes, not knowing too much information is better.

"Heya, detective! What you doin' here?", Alex turned to the voice behind her seeing the little dweeb she's looking for. She instantly smiled at her, relieved to see her.

"Cos!", Cos grinned at her.

"You know, Detective Gonzales, relieved you from duty, yeah?", the nerdy analyst slightly raised her eyebrow in question as Alex sighed.

"So what now? I'm off limits?", Alex sarcastically commented as Cos smiled widely. "Listen, nerd, I got somethin' for you..."

"What? It isn't my birthday yet, detective...but thanks anyway...", Cos grinned as Alex rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, not in few months...", Alex mentioned, trying to carry on with the conversation for awhile.

"Nice of you to remember, detective.", Cos nodded her head once. "I bet you remembered how we dragged detective Gonzales' drunken ass to his apartment after my birthday bash in that rusty old bar of your choice...", she chuckled as Alex smiled recalling the memory. Cos' chuckle died down when her eyes finally caught Alex's clenching hand. She looked up to Alex for question. "What's that you're holding for dear life?"

Alex alerted as her jaw lightly clenched as well. She looked at Cos seriously as she leaned closer to her to whisper. "I need you to do something for me...would you?"

"Why are we whispering? Is this some kind of top-secret classified information?", Cos whispered back with humor.

"If you like to put it that way, nerd...Here...", Alex handed her the small zip-lock bag.

Cos' eyebrows instantly creased in question. "Ok? I think I had my fair share in analysing zip-lock bags...", she unbelievably looked back to Alex.

"Cos, listen...run a test for me...check if that bag contained—"

"Cocaine?"

Alex's insides flipped and she instantly hated herself for wanting this confirmation.

_I should've just asked Max...Afterall, this is just some assumption, right? _Alex internally questioned. She bit her tongue, not answering just yet, still considering that option. _Oh, fuck it!_

"Y-Yeah...Test it for coke...", she weakly answered earning a look from Cos.

"You seemed...", Cos paused finding the word to describe Alex right now. "...off."

Alex averted her eyes from the young analyst and sighed a little.

"Hey! Vause! What the hell are you doing here?", Alex was startled hearing someone calling her. She turned around to see Gonzales with his arms opened wide with a dubious expression. "Didn't I tell you that I don't want to see your smug ass in here?", he threw the question with humor as Alex rolled her eyes.

"And you, taking all the credits? No sir...", Alex mockingly replied, humouring him as he laughed out. Alex heard Cos quietly whispered telling her that she'd be running that test now and Alex looked at her through the corner of her eyes to thank her as the nerd took off smiling a little. "So what's happened, Gonzales?"

Gonzales amusedly looked at her. "You seriously don't know the meaning of 'take the rest of the day off', do you?"

"Nope...not in my vocabulary..."

Gonzales chuckled at that. "Ok...Since you're here...I'll be filling you up with the info so far."

"Is this the part you'll admit that you couldn't solve a case without me?", Alex cockily asked as Gonzales tongue his inner cheek in utter amusement.

"Turn down the cockiness a little bit, you ass...", Gonzales chuckled. "Look, the lab run some test and we had some results already...", Alex focused on him, suddenly interested, waving off the feeling of anxiousness and worry inside her.

"Go on..."

"Apparently, there's two levels of purity...", Alex confusedly looked at him. "There's the undervalued coke, and there's the high-class one..."

"What—", Alex creased her eyebrows. "You mean there's two types...", she synced the information for a moment. "Possibility that there are two dealers?"

"Could be...", Gonzales casually shrugged. "But the sure thing is, there are two consumers...the broke junkies..."

_Max. _Alex instantly cringed at the thought.

"...and the high-paying socialites...", Gonzales continued.

"Fuck...", Alex's eyes went wide when a thought broke through her mind. Gonzales curiously looked at her as she fished out her phone from her jacket pocket.

_Nicky._

"Hey...You alright?", Gonzales asked with a little concern as Alex swiftly looked up to him from her phone.

"Yeah...Yeah, I'm fine...I gotta go...", Alex rushed to the glass door as Gonzales called after her.

"Hey! Where you going, Vause?"

"I got the day off remember? So, it's none of your business...", Alex replied back, hastily opening the glass door.

Gonzales lifted his hands to his hips and unbelievably rolled his eyes. "Bitch...", he snorted mirthfully.

* * *

**Cos: **Positive.

Alex's temper reigned inside of her after she read the simple text message from Cos. She violently threw her phone on the passenger seat as she drove real fast to her bushy-haired friend's pent house.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!", she forcefully hit the steering wheel repeatedly, as a thought crossed her mind—her detective instincts kicking in, suddenly all up to knowing everything about the whole situation.

Alex grabbed her phone from the passenger seat and dialled Cos' number.

**_"_****_Cos here..."_**

"Cos...Would you mind running another test for me?", she asked a little edgy.

**_"_****_Based on how you're sounding right now...I guess, not..."_**

Alex sighed, calming herself a little. "Ok...Look, would you do a comparative analysis on the coke from the bust and from the zip-lock I gave you?"

**_"_****_Can I ask why?"_**

"Cos...top-secret..."

**_"_****_Yeah...Yeah, Got it...But it could take awhile?"_**

"No problem...Just...Just hook me up with the details, ok?"

**_"_****_Ok...ASAP..."_**

"Thanks, nerd...", Alex hung up and was about to throw her phone again on the passenger seat when her phone rang notifying another call.

_Nicky._

Alex clenched her jaw as she picked up the call.

**_"'_****_Sup, big shot? Got your text..."_**, Nicky airily greeted her as soon as Alex picked up. Alex put her on loud speaker then placed her phone on the dashboard.

"Where the fuck are you?", she surly asked countering the jumpy greeting of her bushy-haired friend.

**_"_****_Woah, Woah...Someone's cranky..."_**, Nicky chuckled.

"I don't have time to act all friendly, Nicky...I'm fucking mad right now! Jesus, I'm even freaking out!", she clenched her jaw distastefully.

**_"_****_Hold up, Vause...What's happened?", _**Nicky asked suddenly concerned. **_"Had a fight again with Chapman?"_**

_Piper... _Alex instantly thought and her heart caught up her throat. _She didn't need to know about Max...I gotta get her away from this shit as possible..._Alex got tensed.

"N-No...No...We got our issues sorted...", she mindlessly gulped.

**_"_****_Then what's with the rush? I'm not in my house; alright...Turn back now..."_**

"Then where are you?", Alex asked irritated.

**_"_****_At work...And you'll not need to be here, 'cos you'll scare off my clients...",_** Nicky lightly snickered. **_"Can't we do this over the phone?"_**

"This is personal Nicky! I need to talk to you!"

**_"_****_Then talk, Vause..."_**

"The fuck!", Alex immediately pulled over, parking her truck off the road. At this level of anger and frustration, she didn't trust herself in driving any further. She grabbed her phone on the dashboard and putting it off-speaker, pressing the phone on her ears.

**_"_****_Would you calm down? You're freaking me out!"_**

"Well, you should be more than freaked out...because when I found out that you got something to do with this shit, I will be coming for your head, Nicky...", Alex furiously threatened as Nicky choked out a little.

**_"_****_The fuck are you saying right now? Alex, what's got into you?", _**Nicky was beyond shock at the indignant threat.

"How much do you know?"

**_"_****_What the fuck are you talking about?_****—"**

"What do you know, Nicky! The cocaine! The fucking cocaine!"

**_"_****_What cocaine?"_**

"Max!"

**_"_****_Say what now?"_**

"Max! When the fuck did she started taking the fucking cocaine!"

Alex heard Nicky gasped from the other line and she swears she didn't like how she's reacting now. Her suspicions getting the best of her as the silence from the other line grew longer.

"Better sleep with two eyes opened tonight, Nichols!", she threatened again through gritted teeth as she heard Nicky hissed.

**_"_****_Come again, Vause..."_**

"What?"

**_"_****_Say it again..."_**

"I will fucking kill you!"

**_"_****_Not that! You idiot! The other one!", _**Nicky grunted.

"Is Max doing cocaine?", Alex didn't like the taste of the words coming from her mouth. "She got a small empty baggy of cocaine in her things!"

**_"_****_Jesus! What the fuck is that kid even thinking!", _**Alex could sense distress from the other line and she could instantly feel the worry and panic radiating from her friend.**_"And since when did you start jumping to conclusions? The bag's empty right? Why would you think its cocaine?"_**

"I got it tested, Nichols!"

**_"_****_Fuck!", _**Nicky gasped.

"So have you known about this?", she asked anyway.

**_"_****_Are you kidding me? Do you think if I have known about this, you really think I would keep this from you? Seriously, Vause. How shitty do you think I am?", _**Nicky returned the frustration Alex threw awhile ago. **_"The fuck! This is unbelievable, Vause!"_**

"Yeah! I had warned you about drugs touching my kid! You told me you'll keep her away from it!"

**_"_****_Fuck! Now you're blaming me? If you have been there for her all this years, this might not happen!"_**

Alex was taken back. Now it all came back at her. The blame was turned to her.

"Can we not talk about that, please...", she weakly asked as Nicky scoffed from the other line.

**_"_****_Yeah...Yeah, too soon. Sorry."_**, Nicky sighed. **_"Guess, it's both our fault...we let Diane raised her, ofcourse this would happen..."_**

_Diane..._Alex picked up the thought.

"You think...You think Diane knew 'bout all of this?", Alex surprisingly asked, her anger getting into her.

_That bitch!_

She heard Nicky sighed. **_"I don't know...maybe? Considering that she's the one living in the apartment with Max...You know, you aren't there with Max in her early teenage years as much as I have...due to your job."_**

"Fuck! I swear, if that fucking bitch got something to do with this! I will fucking kill her!", Alex growled, her face reddening from anger.

**_"_****_Hey! Vause! Breathe now, would you? And stop this reckless thinking!"_**

"Fuck! Nichols! I couldn't take this much shit anymore! Why...Why am I such a fucking failure!", Alex bit back the pathetic sob that almost escaped her lips, raising her hand on her aching head.

**_"_****_Goddamnit, don't fucking start with waterworks now, Vause!", _**Nicky hissed. **_"Sort out your emotions, will you?" _**

"But you know, I find time to bond with Max to still keep our connection, right?", Alex asked for assurance a little out of character.

**_"_****_Yeah, lucky for you, she's still caught up with your bullshit and still look up to you...", _**Nicky paused. **_"But you didn't saw how fucked up Max was when you started not to show up as frequent!"_**

"I got promoted, Nichols! My job got demanding! And to be fair, I didn't spend enough time with my _family _as well!"

**_"_****_That's not a fucking excuse, Vause!"_**, Nicky growled. **_"But yeah, you know...I tried to make up with your absence...but yeah...even my job got demanding as well..."_**

Alex scoffed at that. "So we're blaming each other, now? Fun.", she sarcastically commented. "We need to sort this out Nicky! What do I do with Max!"

**_"_****_We need to do this from the beginning...", _**Nicky paused. **_"Figure out the root before asking the kid...we need to be systematic, Vause. If we let our emotions took over, we'll just push Max away...I know how you are when you're angry and unsorted...Few of my mules still recovering from the trauma...And dealing Max that way is not a good idea..."_**

"Fuck, Nichols! Where are we going with this?", Alex asked beyond confused.

The line became quiet; Alex assumed Nicky must have been thinking, so she did as well. When the silence became unbearable, she decided to hang up the call and just dealt with the matter her way, but Nicky halted her.

**_"_****_Wait up, Vause!", _**Nicky called out as Alex sighed. **_"I should talk to her!"_**

"No! I will talk to her!", Alex stubbornly replied.

**_"_****_God! Your temper!"_**

"You've done enough, Nicky...now's the time I deal with my own daughter..."

Then she hang up, bringing back her truck engine to life.

* * *

**A/N: Any thoughts? I'm very much happy to know what you guys think. :)**


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